The Brazilian striker has been a misfit at Manchester City since arriving in England last summer, netting just once in the Premier League back in September with his only other goals of an 18-game spell coming against Cypriot minnows Omonia Nicosia in the UEFA Cup.

Yet, inside the first 90 minutes of his initial six-month Everton stay, Jo managed to treble that top-flight tally and also earn a penalty to leave a significant early calling card.

Clearly, the best things come to those who wait. Moyes has been a long-time admirer of Jo, having tracked the 21-year-old from his goal-laden time at Russian side CSKA Moscow.

But with Jo having cost City £18million, it’s likely the Everton manager may have to start playing the EuroMillions to help facilitate any possible permanent deal for the striker in the summer.

It would be foolish to pass sweeping judgements on one outing, yet already Jo appears more at ease with English football than at any point during a miserable seven months at City. Certainly, the smile has returned to his game.

The player himself admits the camaraderie among the Goodison squad has instantly made him feel at home on Merseyside, a feeling of togetherness that has been conspicuously absent at Eastlands this season. Would Jo have benefited from signing for Everton in the first place?

Tall, languid and with characteristically Brazilian close control, Jo will, at least temporarily, provide an extra dimension to the attacking arsenal already on the Goodison books.

Of course, with all of those forwards injured anyway, having a natural striker to call upon was something of a rare luxury for Moyes at the weekend. And Jo will hopefully ease the pressure on Tim Cahill, who has been filling the breach superbly up front during the past two months, although the Brazilian is ineligible for the FA Cup.

A few early sighters, particularly a shot dragged harmlessly wide after being sent clear by Cahill’s header, indicated Jo was demonstrating the understandable rustiness of someone who had started just one game in almost three months.

But in one neat turn and explosive burst of pace inside the area five minutes before the break was enough to announce his arrival and tempt Bolton Wanderers full-back Andrew O’Brien into a foul, allowing Mikel Arteta to convert from the spot.

Better was to come four minutes after the interval with a flash of skill that had Goodison purring in appreciation.

Phil Neville floated a long ball up towards Jo on the edge of the area, and, in one fluid, quickfire movement, the striker plucked the ball out of the air, turned away from centre-back Gary Cahill and thrashed a left-footed volley underneath Bolton goalkeeper Jussi Jaaskelainen.

Injury time saw the icing on the cake when, after referee Peter Walton adjudged Mark Davies to have handled Gosling’s right-wing cross inside the penalty box, Jo was handed the responsibility to beat Jaaskelainen from the spot.

And to think Moyes believes Jo is still weeks away from full match sharpness. Enough Goodison careers have already been buried under the weight of expectation encouraged by a promising debut, but the initial portents augur well.

The cause of Jo and Everton was helped by the fact that Bolton were, to put it mildly, absolutely pathetic; only Middlesbrough on Boxing Day have performed anywhere near as badly against Moyes’s men this season.

It made for a comfortable afternoon for Everton – not something that has been said often at home this season – a deserved reward after the extra-time endeavours of midweek and a schedule that saw them emerge from five successive games against the Premier League’s leading lights with just one defeat.

Even without the injured Marouane Fellaini and Steven Pienaar, Everton were dominant from as early as the third minute when, after Leon Osman released Leighton Baines down the left flank, Cahill somehow contrived to slice the left-back’s teasing low cross wide from barely three yards.

With Arteta pulling the strings, there were plenty of other chances for Everton to secure a great margin of victory. Joleon Lescott thrashed a shot that was deflected wide, Phil Jagielka glanced an Arteta corner against the crossbar and Gary Cahill produced an outstanding block to deny Osman.

Gosling, handed a starting role on the back of his derby heroics, was again dangerous and only a point-blank save from Jaaskelainen prevented the youngster heading home a Baines free-kick at the far post.

Bolton rarely troubled Everton, with Tim Howard only once forced into meaningful action to parry Matthew Taylor’s angled drive midway through the second half.

The visitors had little success up against a backline for whom Jagielka’s continued imperious form earned a richly-merited call-up by Fabio Capello to the England squad for Wednesday’s friendly against Spain in Seville.

Few full-backs can deliver a cross with the accuracy Baines is consistently producing at present while even the perennially unsung Tony Hibbert was afforded a chant from the Gwladys Street faithful.

Since losing at Arsenal in October, Everton have now been defeated just three times in 20 games, conceding only 11 goals in that period while keeping 11 clean sheets.

Their league position of sixth has remained constant for some time, and while it is clear that Moyes’s side have the measure of most in the Premier League, that top-five place is likely to be tantalisingly out of reach, if only for this season.

But, as Everton and Jo discovered on Saturday, some things are worth waiting for.