Thierno Barry: What will he bring to Everton?

There is a sequence in Villarreal’s 3-1 win against Las Palmas last season that highlights Thierno Barry’s promise.

The striker is facing his own goal, midway inside his own half, with a defender right on his back. The two grapple for possession, tumbling to the turf, but Barry is quickest to react, beating his opponent and another covering Las Palmas player to the stray ball.

From there, he races, socks rolled down, to the edge of the penalty area, sending another defender, Alex Suarez, to the turf with a shoulder barge, before calmly setting up Nicolas Pepe for the opener.

It is not always slick, but stopping Barry in these moments feels like an ordeal. His 6ft 5in (196cm) frame, ability in transition and eye for a pass, witnessed in that goal against Las Palmas, mark him out as a unique proposition.

Everton have been aware of the Lyon-born striker since the 2023-24 season, when he was a raw yet promising talent at Swiss side Basel. Now 22, he is still refining his game, but his displays in his sole season with Villarreal in La Liga saw his name move up scouting shortlists. By the second half of the campaign, he had emerged as a regular one to watch alongside Nick Woltemade, Stuttgart’s 23-year-old striker.

The comparison between Barry and Germany international Woltemade is interesting in the sense that they are very different players. Both are tall strikers with an eye for goal, but Barry looks to stretch the opposition’s defence while Woltemade is better in tight spaces, with the ball played to his feet. The question for Everton manager David Moyes and his staff to answer was whether they wanted another striker closer in fit to first-choice Beto or a point of difference.

Barry, who made eight caps for France Under-21s, is not afraid to get physical. Everton ended up plumping for Barry, largely due to his ability to dominate the box and stretch defences.

The club’s internal data showed a player with an elite physical profile who should work well in Moyes’ system, while having a high ceiling in terms of future development.

There is an acceptance on Merseyside that he will require time and patience as he acclimatises, but also a belief that he is ready to share minutes with Beto next season.

Talks took place over the past month and it has taken time to get to the point where Barry is now an Everton player. His Villarreal deal, signed when he joined from Basel for an initial €13.5m (£11.6m; $16m) last summer, contained a hefty release clause of €40m.

Everton started negotiations looking for a significant discount on that number but both parties are likely to see the final figure of €32m plus bonuses as a happy compromise.

There was confusion at times. Towards the end of last week, noises from Spain suggested a deal had been reached between the clubs. The insistence on Merseyside was that progress had been made, but certain details were still to be ironed out.

The fee does not appear to have changed much, if at all, in the intervening period, but the suggestion since has been that the clubs were haggling over the structure of the deal and when certain amounts were paid. Barry cut short his holiday in Miami, after representing France at this summer’s European Under-21 Championship in Switzerland, to travel early this week for a medical on Tuesday and complete a move. In Florida, he had trained with soon-to-be team-mate Carlos Alcaraz and former Everton loanee Jack Harrison.

Everton will be pleased to have finally signed a top target and bolstered their forward line after the departure of Dominic Calvert-Lewin as a free agent. They were aware of interest in Barry from England and some Champions League clubs, but they did their groundwork with the player and his camp. Moyes’ sales pitch, where he outlined his interest in working with the Frenchman, helped convince him Everton was the right club.

Now player and club will hope the switch pays dividends.

Delighted with this signing! ✍️

But just to repeat, there are compromises and UEFA can approve it as they have done for both Manchester Clubs.

In simple terms, as long as the owners don't have direct control over day-to-day decision making, a waiver can be approved.

If we have different boards, then it should be fine. It might mean Dan Friedkin stepping aside as Chairman of wither club, but TFG would still be owners of both.

That's how I understand it.

Interesting comparisons with Beto. I'm hoping he will turn out as a definite upgrade.

Just fun!