Everton closing in on Thierno Barry of Villarreal

I wonder can we have a Goodison News section of ToffeeWeb where this endless shite can be deposited and not bother the front page we rely on for proper information?

I'd much prefer the German kid from Stuttgart but have a feeling we'll end up with this lad.

If he played for Villarreal in 2005 we'd have got in the Champions League. No thanks.

What about Castellanos at Lazio?

Grant@3. He'd have only been 2, so yes we probably would have won.

All round game looks like that of a 2 year old still.

I hope this is true from what I've seen of him. He came on in the second half against Barcelona in the Camp Nou the other week and terrorised them helping them to a 3-2 win and qualifying for the Champions League.

He is the next big French striking sensation after Ekitike and he seems to score all sorts of goals. I would much prefer him than Delap as he looks to have a much higher ceiling to me.

The last Barry we signed didn't do too badly for us.

Let me see, that's um, four strikers we will have. Beto, Chermiti, DLC, and Barry. Shame that 3 of them are not very good, and that's obvious because we will end up with four strikers, um, 3 not very good. I think this is where I came in.

These News Now AI articles are killing ToffeeWeb.

Thierno Barry brings a unique combination of physical dominance and silky skills to Villarreal. His ability to disrupt defences and score opportunities is clear, but refining his decision-making and passing precision will need to sharpen up as he continues to adapt to the demands of the Spanish top-flight.

Considering these improvements, he is still young and has the potential to become one of La Liga's top strikers.

Apparently Aston Villa are after him, especially if Watkins goes. He's had one season in La Liga, is he tried and tested? Is he the answer to our THREE not very good strikers?

Supposedly his hold up play and passing needs working on… where have I heard that before?

Is he any relation to Gareth Barry ? :-)

If so or not, if he is anywhere near as good (different position I know) we will do well. I would prefer the German lad though if it down to choice.

He's quite similar to Beto. Might well develop and get better than Beto, but he doesn't look a superior player at the moment.

With Villareal having qualified for the Champions League, we'd be buying at a premium price too. He only cost €14.00m last summer, so €40.00m is good business for them.

Not a massive fee for a striker - much the same as Brentford and Bournemouth paid for Thiago and Evanilson last summer - but obviously a big chunk of our transfer kitty.

Paul # 7, there isn't really a player on the market who fits the description for us. The real quality strikers who might move this summer are:

Ekitike
Gyokeres
Sesko
Osimhen

None of these players would consider joining Everton, although we could have bought them at different stages of their careers.

How can you say 3 not very good strikers Paul? We have hardly seen enough of Chermiti to be making those kind of judgments

You forgot Jonathan David, Robert.

I scrubbed him off the list Gavin - along with Ramos, Kean and Tel. He might get a really big move this summer - but possibly because he's free more than anything else.

Robert # 12……..€40M would be a large chunk of our transfer kitty, if it had to be paid in one payment, but wouldn’t we only pay so much per year, depending on the length of contract Barry would sign? So he signs a five year contract, wouldn’t we only pay €8M per year to Villarreal?

You are right, Rob, it isn't all paid out in one chunk - but however you cut it, we are unlikely to spend (or commit to spend) more than £100m this summer.

If we get Barry, that would mean:

Barry - c. £37m
Alcaraz - £13m (ish)
Remainder - £50m

That £50m will have to stretch a long way to cover all the departures and improve the quality / depth. We can pick up some frees and loans - but it's still a big challenge.

Robert Beto?? Really??

This kid is the total opposite to Beto. He is a natural finisher and scores left foot, right foot, headers and poachers goals.

His movement in the box is excellent and he's a really sharp, elastic type of striker.

In terms of minutes played he's better than a 1 in 2 every where he's been and he's still only a kid. Beto is 27 and scored more than 13 goals once in his career.

I couldn't think of 2 more dissimilar strikers

I would hope our spend is more than £100m because we will buy players on instalments, which is the norm for most transfers these days.

Annika23. "We have hardly seen enough of Chermiti"
Um, exactly!! Because??? He's Not good enough!!

Is it our money as fans? Yes I understand we can only spend some much. Be we are not prefe to the full deal. So to an extent leave it to the people who get paid professionally to sort it.

Id be hoping for 3 to 4 perm signings, some loans and a couple of frees.

The squad is thin, plus we have another load out of contract next summer if options aren't exercised.

I’ve not seen anyone on here predict we’ll go beyond a £100m net spend this summer but who knows. You might be right Gavin.

Conor, yes, Beto. If we do sign him, hopefully he kicks on.

Paul, to be fair to Chermiti, he missed a fair amount of last season injured...it's hard to judge him

Lee #21

That didn’t work out too well last time though did it?

(Appreciate it was under a different administration but once bitten….)

Sounds like the sort of player we should be buying, after all aren't we always saying how Brentford and Brighton always find this type of player?

It's 'cos they take the chance, look at Wolves with Cunha, bought for the same sort of price, scores loads of goals and sold at a good profit.

A 5 year contract was mentioned above. Not unrealistic for his age and I'd expect payments to be spread over 60 months. I see Chelsea signed Delap, also aged 22 on a 6 year contract, no doubt expecting to sell him for bucket loads after half that time.

Does anyone else read these comments on Barry's style of play and hear the same attributes of Beto ?

I wouldn't believe myself to be saying this 10 months ago but if we can't buy a top up and coming striker (like Delap) as we did when buying Lukaku, then we should be giving Beto a proper go, back him and get players around him to can play to his strengths. He managed to bag under Moyes, why not see if that continues.

Chiamiti needs to be given ago as back up also or we have spoknked our money yet again, plus he looked like he has something in the short minutes he's played.

If we are realistic we have 100m tops, we need half a squad, I'd have happily paid £30m for Delap as he looked to have resale value, but taking chances on players who just about hit double figures in la liga seems like more of the same...same as Sandro, same as Tosun, Niasse, and so on (although not from Spain league I'm aware, just talking about levels).

One thing worries me with Moyes, he's very good at spotting bargains, but hes always been average at best at picking strikers. Yakubu was his best buy in the strikers department, injury killed him, but even at West ham when they had the Rice money he could t get better than Antonio who he inherited.

Conor #18 and Anthony #28 I made the original Beto comparison because of his aggression. He loves to attack, attack, attack defenders, just like Beto. He's also tall and a bit awkward, which should sound familiar.

As to being a natural finisher, Conor, I'd say not yet. I've seen him blast the ball into row Z from eight yards out. But he certainly scores more often than Beto did at the same age, and at a higher level, so the talent is there.

I really didn't expect us to spend so much on a young striker when I see so many greater needs, but if Rob and Gavin are right about an installment plan, getting this kid might turn out to be a coup.

Chermiti needs a loan for regular football. Thierno Barry he is a good striker. I think there are other strikers who are out of our reach. However, Voltemade looks more dynamic. For the right price anyone of the above would do a job for Everton. However we need to ensure we add 2 more attacking players / wingers to support the striker with good passes / crosses

If we sign Barry, Barry might play alongside Beto.

Moyesy will probably play him as a winger for the first 6 months.

What ever happened to let's wait until we see him in the shirt and scarf sat at a desk with a pen in his hand, a piece of paper on the desk and muttering something about how he's always admired the club and it's great history. Oh, that's right, it's the off-season.

I can scarcely believe anybody would want us to spend 40% of our budget on somebody they compare to Beto

Paul @ 20, it's not possible to make that kind of judgement on a player who spent large parts of last season injured.

I could understand your comment more if he had started 25/30 games and totally underachieved. But he hasn't.

I would like to see him start more games before I write the lad off completely.

Colin, we have no idea what our actual budget is, and no idea how much of it we'd be lumping out at once for this kid. That's for the new owner and new CEO to figure out.

Annika, agreed. Chermiti hasn't failed. I hope he's healthy and gets a fair shot.

Paul @20. What Annika says.

He was injured for a lot of the season. Hard to judge him just yet on the few appearances he was able to make.

When he did play, he showed glimpses of his ability, and let's not forget that he's still only 21.

Jury's out, but let's see more of him before deciding how good he is or isn't.

Barry was a prolific goal-scorer for FC Sochaux-Montbéliard B

Oh well, sign him up then!

Mike,

I'm not against signing Barry. I don't claim to be one of those people who make out they have seen every player we are linked with – they must stay awake 24/7 and never have time to watch Everton.

Like Conor, I have only seen him once – never enough to make an informed judgement.

£30M for Beto has been proven to be a mistake, no mater how we paid it up. Are those comparing the two players really advocating we make the same mistake?

Chermiti needs a loan.

He's played just over 4 match equivalent in 2 seasons, and is not going to progress unless he's playing regularly.

He's not had a sniff under Moyes, which would signal he's unlikely to be kept on in the first team for next season. Striking options look limited if he's out with Broja and Calvert-Lewin released.

I still think that creativity in midfield is the number one priority, followed by the full-backs and a winger.

We have always said jokingly that Messi would find it hard to score goals (he probably wouldn't) in our team. Why? — because there is no creativity in midfield.

We have seen how Beto thrives when a player of quality (Alcaraz) provides the service. For me, midfield is the most important area to improve.

Interesting that we are heavily linked with him, like we were Delap. It does point to the likelyhood we are in for a statement striker signing to spearhead the attack and the summer business. If so that is exciting but as we all know, wrought with complications.

Get it wrong we have an expensive dud, get it right and we move forwards, make money on our investment and start looking like a serious business outfit for a change.

I do like researching players but not to the depths of some better informed folk on here. I can't profess to know too much about this lad but from what I have seen, he seems to have something. Big, strong and a handful but then so is Beto as others have rightly said.

Personally i'd prefer Emegha but they have very similar profiles and I only say that because he is someone i've keep an eye on a bit more. Guessand another who is quite similar and as Sam (i think) mentioned in another thread, he could be blooded on the right wing in season one.

The silly season paradox, love the speculation - hate the uncertainty!

Andrew @41, that's why I think we should offer big wages to Angel Gomes on a free contract. He would bring creativity to the middle of the park and knit the play nicely.

Presumably if we spent £35m on Barry then we would be selling Beto. Moyes tends to play only one striker so it would be strange to have either expensive striker to sit on the bench given the scarcity of resources (unless there's more cash to spend than any of us realised).

Barry looks a good young player, as Robert says he's probably around Beto's level now but has the potential to outstrip him in time. Maybe Barry could play as a winger initially, his defensive work seems solid.

I think it would be a mistake to sell Beto unless in the unlikely event we were offered really decent money for him.

I like him and think he could develop further, potential cult hero vibes about him.

Just to put this in perspective, €40m is a lot of money for us - but it's not big money for a Premier League transfer - especially a striker. You cannot buy a statement striker for as little as €40m.

This is less than Wolves paid for Cunha and Brighton paid for Rutter - and about the same as Bournemouth and Brentford paid for Thiago and Evanilson.

It is probably about the same as the €11m we paid for Andy Johnson all those years ago (but less than Beattie).

A statement striker costs upwards of £65m these days - and even then can be hit and miss as we've seen with Solanke, Hojlund and Nunez.

If Barry was regarded highly enough to be a hit straight away it is likely he would be out of reach for us - because richer clubs would want him. As it is he's potential that needs time to develop.

Beto will be here next season if Dominc leaves.

If we buy an additional striker, surely we should buy a player with different skill sets?

Robert, you suggested Santiago Castro from Bologna, who is smaller but can pass accurately, dribble, make assists and get 10 goals a season.

He looks impressive.

Castro is a much better footballer, Steve, that's right.

Potential too at this stage but much more to his game.

Robert, a lot of our fans don't let players develop, they make their mind up straight away, eg, Chermiti. We haven't seen enough of him cos of injuries but we get fans saying he's shite.

Beto has changed a few fans minds because he has had more minutes, scored some goals, and the lad gives 💯 every game.

Jake O'Brien is another one who, according to some must be shite cos Gobshite Dyche never game him a chance.

Regarding our interest in Barry, for me, these are the type of players we should be targeting,

Steve @46, yes this is my thinking. It would be strange to buy a striker with a similar profile to Beto.

Someone like Castro or my favourite, Guessand, who can play right-wing, or Woltemade, who can play No 10 or second striker, would make more sense (unless the plan is to sell Beto).

With the right midfield behind him Beto will score goals. He's big and strong and quick.

What we want are footballing midfielders who are comfortable on the ball.

Does Castro have a release clause? I really like the look of him, could link with Beto as you say.

Get Agent Charly in to have a word, it would be amazing to have two talented, young Argentinians in the team.

Steve @ 42, looks like Gomes is off to Marseilles

Sam @ 43, Beto is not really an expensive striker.

Mick, I agree, we should be buying potential – but €40M is a lot to pay for potential – especially since we aren't rich.

Other clubs tend to spread their risk by buying their potential cheaper and at higher volume.

But if Barry does develop his all-around game over a couple of seasons – and score goals at a decent rate – then it would have proved to be a good use of budget.

Andrew @52, not compared to most Premier League strikers, no… but for us, his purchase was a significant expense.

He was our second costliest transfer over the last 5 years – beaten only by Onana. Ideally such a relative expense doesn't sit on the bench.

If we want to move forward, Sam, having players like Beto on the bench instead of starting is where we need to be.

That doesn't necessarily mean Barry is the perfect replacement.

Watching this lad, he's skilful and absolutely rapid. But he looks more of a left-sided winger to me. He can beat his full-back with ease, but doesn't look like he could hit a donkey's ass from 2 yards.

We need a prolific scorer. German lad looks the business. And if we could get him at the price being quoted, which is £16M, I would definitely be looking at getting them both in.

Why would he come to a midtable English team when he is playing in the Champions League next season?

Or we look at doing what Brighton have done over a few years with reasonable success. find some younger players, develop and sell on for decent profit and gradually move up the table.

Yes, it means we are perhaps seen as a selling club for a while… but progress might be made and might make us more financially stable.

However, we as a fanbase might have to accept it, which I can't see; we'd also need to avoid the noise coming from that other local club, also difficult.

I'm inclined to believe what Eddie just said.

What bit of Chermiti I've seen, there is a Premier League player in there unless my eyesight is failing. I suppose, though, Moyes should know better than me how good he is likely to be.

That's the trouble, managers are not keen to take chances on players that are knocking on the door. If one doesn't work out, the fear of relegation rears its ugly head.

Eddie # 57 – as with most things in football these days, it is all about financials.

Although he is currently playing in a ‘better' side, he will earn much more at Everton. And Villarreal know they can replace him with someone like the very similar Yoan Bonny of Parma for a lower price.

Mike, this lad has been well touted by the French for the last few seasons in much the same way as Ekitike was.

When we were linked with the latter for only £15M, there was much angst about his finishing, his rawness, his game time at PSG and his goal returns and who they were against.

Barry is much further ahead in his development than Ekitike was. Beto, conversely, has always been regarded as a journeyman type of striker.

My guess is that Moyes will want to cash in on Beto as, when Dominic was fit, he started; when Broja came back, he also was preferred initially.

The fact Dominic is out of contract and still no deal done with anyone or murmurings to that effect, suggests to me that Moyes is confident of keeping him and Barry will be seen a different profile (explosive, can square defenders up, goalscorer).

I'm not really reading about potential buys. I don't know enough concerning how much we have to spend, I have no real idea about the players that are reported to be available, and I realise that it is a minefield out there with many clubs of similar stature to us all trying to buy the same players.

Some will be lucky and buy gems and some will make poor buys. We have done well recently in terms of buys and I prefer to trust the club to do a great job to the best of their ability.

Robert, don't know Yoan Bonny, but perhaps we should be interested in Bonny instead...

This Football Manager thing is easy.

Shame Kevin-Prince Boateng has retired, could have been a decent front 3: Bonny Prince Charly…

Got me coat.

Andrew @55, we all want a better squad but it's a question of finite resources. If we only have £90-100M to spend, I'd be wary of spending a ⅓ of it on a striker who might warm the bench.

We need a whole new right flank and upgrades across the pitch so it's important to marshal resources sensibly which is why I could see us selling Beto if we buy Barry; especially as Beto had a very decent second half of the season which may mean his resale value is higher now that it may be again.

You're right about needing a stronger bench but progress will be gradual and strategic hopefully.

Comparisons to Beto aren't useful — he's much closer to Chris Wood if anything, which we could really do with — a classic Moyes player if ever there was one.

Also, £30M odd for a decent centre-forward is a fair price these days. Get him in early for a full preseason and focus on the long list of others we need.

I think the comparisons with Beto are valid. Of course no two players are the same but both are tall, fast strikers who work hard and enjoy the physical battle.

FBref is a decent player analysis site which for every player lists 10 others in the same position with similar outputs. On Beto's pages, Barry is listed as one of the ten closest comparables — along with Calvert-Lewin and Moise Kean!

FBref: Beto

Conor you might be right about us cashing in on Beto - going for Barry instead (and maybe keeping DCL in the process). Bit of a risk but might pay off - with his age and physical characteristics Barry could definitely develop.

However, I don't agree that Barry is as highly regarded as you are making out - or that he is ahead of Ekitike in his development.

They are both now 22 but have had very different career trajectories.

Ekitike had his breakout season for Reims in the French top flight 2021/22 - scoring 10 in 24 aged 19, earning comparisons to Thierry Henry for his style of play. He then went on loan to PSG (because of PSR) who then bought him for €28.50m in July 2023.

That same summer, Barry moved from Beveren to Basel for €3.00m. In terms of France credentials - Barry has only had 58 minutes of football across 3 games for the U21s.

He's also is up against it with a peer group of young French strikers - Wahi, Ekitike, Tel and Kroupi - who are all more technical players. As I mentioned above, he's more like Bonny of Parma (i.e. a big unit / physical specimen who runs the channels well) - and Bonny has had greater recognition in the France youth set up already too.

The only thing that Barry compares to Ekitike in is the goal return this season. Barry has 11 in 35 for the 5th placed team in La Liga. Ekitike has 15 in 33 for the 3rd placed team in the Bundesliga.

That is another important thing. In most matches Barry plays in, he's playing for the better side - a well put together Villareal side. For us next season, we're unlikely to have squad that compares so favourably to the opposition. There are glaring gaps on the right flank - and question marks over a large part of the squad. It is much harder for a striker to impress in that sort of set up.

So, he may well develop and kick on from where he is now, but it could take a bit of time. If I were to guess who would be more likely to score more goals for us next season - I would say Beto (on the basis he's had time to settle in and despite obvious weaknesses seems well suited to Moyes' tactics). Going forward, Barry could become a better player.

Are we in danger of not giving Beto enough credit?

If Calvert-Lewin does sign another contract, we don't need Barry, especially at that sort of price.

Robert #45, exactly what I was saying @26, only you put it so much better than me.

Robert #60, So why don't we sign Yoam Bonny?

Beto has so many limitations… but he is capable of scoring 10-15 goals per season. If Barry is a promising player, he should be bought into the squad alongside Beto – not instead of. If we cannot afford Barry without having to sell Beto, we should keep Beto.

It would be madness to go into next season with only an unproven new guy, Calvert-Lewin (if he re-signs) and the still unproven Chermiti as our strike force.

The only way that signing Barry, who is unproven at Premier League level, is to bring him on loan and send Chermiti out on loan. Assuming of course that Calvert-Lewin stays.

If Calvert-Lewin goes, which seems likely, we need a proven back-up and perhaps someone like Callum Wilson on the right salary makes sense.

To spend £30M on a striker, unless it is on the never-never, consumes a large portion of our assumed spend. Which, I would say, is better spent on creativity and a fullback(s).

Also, perhaps loaning Harrison Armstrong to Sunderland as part of a deal to bring in Neill or to West Brom with Fellows coming to us is something else we could make happen?

Never heard of him.

I tend to leave this stuff to those for whom it is an amateur hobby and who know far more than I…

But the ubiquitous personal YouTube reel shows a player who doesn't look an awful lot like Beto to me, more like the player I'd hope Chermiti could be (and might still be, if he ever got a game).

Looks like he plays on the left, not through the centre, and would bring some much-needed pace on that side. But I wish we could land these guys for the £14M Villarreal paid rather than the £40M they now want.

Eric # 70, possibly because Bonny is even less proven than Barry. He’s a year younger and scored fewer goals. Villareal might not be fussed as they’ve built their club on developing players - but our needs and expectations are a bit different.

I think many on here will consider Barry to be absolute garbage and a waste of €40m if he fails to score 15 goals or more this season.

Beto scored eleven goals last season which is amazing when you think that we were shocking for half of the season.
Also he didn’t really get a good run in the team until Moyes took over.
Creative midfielders are what we want and a deadly winger. Beto will thrive for us then.
Give him a chance.

DCL needs to go.
His head isn’t in it.
Too many injuries, chances missed.
Needs a fresh start.
Hasn’t been the same since ‘that’ photo.

See how Chermiti is next season and if he stays injury free.
Get a good pre season under his belt.

Keep Beto. Loves the club, fans (mostly) love him.
Gives his all. Capable of 15 goals next season.
Play Charly behind him. Watch them thrive next season with a better team, also.

Get Barry signed and then it’s a toss up between him and Beto.
If he can play wide left as well, even better.
Another option out there.

Then focus on other areas.

No duds or pensioners this time around.

Exciting summer ahead.

Not really sure why there's so much hostility to there being updates about potential transfer targets...seems like THE most pressing issue right now with our threadbare squad and a bit of cash in the kitty, no?

Also, as someone who's run various media businesses, I can totally sympathise with the need to try and drive engagement however possible in the off season.
I also don't think this is anywhere near the same as the clickbaity shit that appears on the NewsNow aggregated sites typically, e.g. "£20M Everton star sent this 3 word message on social media... scroll on 5 ad-packed paragraphs before you realise it's absolutely nothing of interest"

The fee seems excessive for someone who hasn't played Premier League football.

We could get Evan Ferguson for less, a better choice in my opinion.

Colin #38, my opinions of how billionaires spend their money are idle at best, but I strongly disagree that what was spent on Beto (actually £26 million) was a mistake. I think he proved over the last four months of the season to be very much worth that outlay. Especially considering the price curve for strikers these days.

Robert/Steve/Sam, when you bring up Castro, aren't you really talking about a different position, like a second striker? Or can you really imagine a guy well under 6 feet tall leading the line for a Moyes team?

30m / 5 year contract is 6m a year.

Say 80k wages is 4m a year

So 10m a year on the PSR.

Not too bad

Mike@81, yes I very much am bringing up Castro as a slightly different position (someone to play alongside Beto or behind him) which is my entire point; i'm not sure we can afford to spend so much of our pot on someone with a very similar profile to the striker we already have (unless Beto is being sold or we have more money than we expect).

Mike, agree, Beto get's a rough deal from some, and sometimes it is justified, just as with any other player.

But, we are difficult to please, and I'll always go with the supporters, as that will always tell you. He mostly gets our backing. Yes, he can be frustrating, but he's got 10 - 15 goals in him if he plays a full season fully fit.

I don't know anything about Barry or Bonny, as I've not seen them play.

If we keep Calvert-Lewin, don't sell Beto, and Chermiti stays fit, I don't think this is a priority for Everton. We have other areas to focus on.

But, this is football. None of us have a crystal ball. I'll believe any signing when it's formally announced.

Rumours that Man Utd want DCL. Can’t see that one coming off, as I don’t think he suits their style of play.

Rob #85 Agree, they were the same when they signed Lukaku, never played to his strengths in the air.

Mike 81. "Or can you really imagine a guy well under 6 feet tall leading the line for a Moyes team?"
Andy Johnson, hight, 5.7. well under six feet.

We need to replace Garner and McNeil and get some quality. Players who can score goals regularly from midfield.
Ndiaye and Alcaraz are quality and it’s great to have them, more players like them and we will be an attractive footballing team in the School of Science mould.
We have a great opportunity here to build a top notch team.
Top of my list would be a warning.
No oldies, no crocks and no cast offs from the Sky darlings or 30+ years players from West Ham or Newcastle ( ask yourself why are they getting rid of them?)Only young hungry players allowed preferably from South America, Portugal and Spain plus maybe a couple of youngsters from the lower divisions.

I would have agreed with you Rob, but not on the grounds of style of play.

With their incredible debts, a free signing would have made sense.

But they've just agreed a £62M deal for Cunha from Wolves and have Gyokeres (Sporting) and the Brentford lad, Mbeumo in their sights. I guess PSR only applies to most, not the few?

If he's on their radar, then I would think he's a back up and making up the numbers.

Likewise at Newcastle, where there are continued links, if they keep Isak, which it looks likely they will,

It depends what Everton and the player decide.

I personally think, that if he doesn't stay, Sunderland or Leeds would be a better option for him to resurrect his career.

Beto gets a rough deal ????????. Compared to the infinitely superior DCL He gets away with murder.

Love Beto, but one of my greatest sources of amusements is watching people distort and massage his stats in order to make them half way respectable. Yes he had a decent 5-6 games but he has struggled big time all his career to find the net.

Apparently he was a late starter (sigh) but if you take away the 21 goals he scored in the pub league he played in at the age of twenty He has only scored 50 goals in his entire career. The guy is 28 at the turn of the year.

We all love a trier, but this guy is not a footballer who will give you anything else.

"Rough Deal" ? not many 3m per goal players enjoy as much goodwill as he does. I wish I could get as rough a deal as he gets

Well hes got the jersey, so its up to someone to take it off him.

Time will tell if its more Jelavic than Lukuku on the goals front.

Colin, I argued that Beto wasn't a late starter when someone suggested it. Players develop at different times and ages.

Can you put a £3M price on those goals Colin? They contributed to keeping us in the Premier League.

Calvert-Lewin gets away with murder?

He got a lot of stick for his dress sense, which is totally irrelevant to him as a footballer. And the worst, being booed by a section of his own supporters for going off injured at Villa Park. He had suffered a fractured cheekbone.

Hardly getting away with murder.

I hope both of them are at Everton next season. I know Moyes traditionally likes to play with one striker, as do most these days, but if he wanted to change it, I could see them playing off each other.

Mike #81, Castro is 5 ft 10. That's an inch shorter than Les Ferdinand. He's not a traditional target man but he doesn't need to be because he's good at football!

He's taller than Mbappe, Alvarez, Martinez, Jota, Wissa and Jesus.

I remember when Eto'o briefly played for us - it was fascinating because he didn't need the brawn of Lukaku to hold up play etc. The fact he could control a ball instantly and use space meant he could do it even though his legs had gone.

Let's please hope we can source other players who are genuinely good at football and don't just have to rely on physical characteristics.

Danny, I said Beto gets away with murder compared to DCL.

I'll widen that out. He gets away with murder compared to the rest of the team simply because he tries.

It was in answer to you at 84 claiming he gets a rough deal.

Beto`s cost us £30M and has scored 11 goals – £3M a goal. As for keeping us up, you really are having a laugh. Ipswich, Southampton, and Leicester ensured we were never in danger.

As for somebody "taking the shirt off him", that will happen as soon as we have a fit alternative and Moyes applies a modicum of common sense.

The times they have been played together, there has been zero understanding or chemistry. Its not been often, and it was under Dyche, but they took up the same areas and rarely combined.

I struggle to see the team carrying two centre forwards. Teams infrequently play 4-4-2, we lack quick width, and think would be exposed in the middle with two players.

Alcaraz and Ndiaye play better in that in-between area from midfield and centre forward, which is more effective than a 2nd striker in my opinion.

Let's see if Calvert-Lewin signs, I have my doubts he will.

Robert #93,

I couldn't believe Les Ferdinand was only 5ft-11in, always terrorised our defence, remember watching him score a hat-trick at Goodison.

It's all opinions Colin. We'll see what happens in the summer.

No mention of DCL getting stick? I've read and heard plenty of it.

Personally, I rarely dish out stick to Everton players. Yes, I will criticise for poor performances or someone I don't believe to be good enough. Just as you've done here, I've done it with Michael Keane over the years, but sometimes you have to recognise when someone has done well and Keane has done so in recent games.

Who mentioned taking the shirt off him by the way?

Sometimes it's off the ball running that matters. I'll just use one example, but I could give a few. Last game of the season at St James' Park. Beto took 3 Newcastle defenders out of the game and their keeper was rooted to the spot, more concerned about Beto, than the in running Alcaraz to score a peach of a header relatively unchallenged.

For what it's worth, Dominic is the better player, when fit and when his head is on it. Like any player, they both bring something to the team.

The important thing in the system we've been playing in that the strikers get supported by runners and wide players.

Dominic unfortunately has been out a lot injured, but as many wiser Evertonians that me have said, he's spent the last few seasons isolated and chasing his own flick ons. Beto has benefited with having Ndiaye and Alcaraz playing forward in support.

Players were smaller? Dave Watson was a big CB in the 80s/90s but only 6 foot tall.

I think Castro would be a revolutionary signing!
Freedom for Toxteth!

Robert don't try and misquote and then have an argument with yourself. "When we were linked with Ekitike ...Barry is much further ahead in his development than Ekitike WAS". Not IS

It is obvious that Ekitike is one of the 3 most highly coveted young strikers in world football NOW that was the point of my post. Our chances of signing a striker like Ekitike would be zero as he is destined to go right to the top, has all kinds of suitors and well out of our price range.

After Ekitikes breakout season at Reims he had an initial impact at PSG triggering his loan move into a permanent one. Things quickly turned sour for him as he was given limited game time and at the time Newcastle, Frankfurt, Everton and Rangers were the clubs linked with him. He had yet to be fast tracked into the France U21 team despite how highly they rated him. He at that point was a player of enormous potential in much the same way as Tel is now.

Barry has now had 2 consecutive seasons in top flight football establishing himself as a key player with both Basel and Villarreal. That was my point about being further in his development when both were being quoted as 15 million and 30 million respectively.

It was during these exploits with Basel the French association were intent on ensuring he didn't opt for Guinea instead of them as they made advances to him. You are right that they have had different trajectories (one a child star and the other a late bloomer) yet both made were called into the french U21 side at the same time. This is why I find these links so exciting

FB ref suggest Barry is like Beto along with other comparable strikers such as Kean and Calvert Lewin. Comedy gold. I think they forgot about another comparable striker Danny Ings

Paul #87, yep, and it didn't go well. Can you picture him doing it again?

Colin #90, no "massaging" necessary. Leave out the entire rest of Beto's career if you want. In an Everton shirt he has scored a goal every 182 minutes on the pitch. No pens. No free kicks. Is that not respectable? It's a more efficient rate than Mateta, Watkins, Raul or Delap -- all better players than Beto.

No, he doesn't bring much of anything else, but the man finds the net. And he makes defenders miserable.

I know literally nothing about the lad but if the powers that be decide he’s the one then welcome to BMD, Bazza.

Beto is a dangerous player. I don’t really get any negativity. He is easily capable of 15 goals a season in the premier league which is a rare thing. I doubt any defender would relish playing against him.

What he isn’t though, is technically good enough to hold play up relentlessly and wait for his team mates to catch him up. Win throw ins. Sacrifice his own opportunities for the good of the percentages.

In basic terms - he’ll never work for a system that looks to exist purely on absorbing pressure defensively and having a constant outlet to fire the ball to before starting a pattern of play. He’s not Michail Antonio.

Moyes wants a Michail Antonio for this team. Make no mistake. That’s his zenith.

It’s not mine

Robert #93, not disputing you one bit. I've not seen him play, but Castro's reviews are stellar, and it seems he'd be a fantastic acquisition. I'm just having trouble imagining him leading our line under our current manager and circumstances.

I eagerly await the day that we have such a depth of attacking talent on the pitch that we don't need a massive physical presence up top and a skill guy like Castro fills the position. But that won't be us for a while.

Mike # 107, yes that's right. We're sort of talking about different things. I'd be very surprised if we sign Castro (or attempt to) - because a "big unit" is more likely. Basically what you are saying about the Moyes' style (wasting big sums on Scamacca and Haller recently). It's a shame because he's hardly short and I think a striker of genuine ability would bring more out of the likes of Ndiaye etc.

Conor # 100, I didn't get what you meant with the earlier post but I do now. I think your point is that Barry at age 22 is more developed a player than Ekitike was at 19. Possibly, yes, in terms of readiness for regular Premier League football. They're just very different players - Ekitike has always been exceptionally gifted whereas Barry is not - but he does have tremendous physical attributes. And as you say he's had two good consecutive seasons now at Basel and Villareal (how that compares with Ekitike is by the by but stands him in good stead). I still think he's got a lot of similarities to Beto and probably isn't the better of the two at the moment - but we can just agree to disagree on that I expect.

i think its important to have a mix of striker types to select from depending on the opponent of the day and how the match is going. There are defenders that Beto will thrive playing against and other opponents that will find his style easier to handle so we need to have the option to mix and match. I was taught that all managers in all fields need to have a good range of tools available to tackle the job of the day. Moyes has always favoured playing one up front so if its going to be Beto as first choice then, in my view, we need a similar type to deputise for him- in case of injuries, suspensions, poor form-and 2 strikers that can pose different problems for the opposition.

Colin -you say Beto has cost us £3 million quid per goal but of couse that calculation is only relevent at the end of his contract, by which time his goals might only cost a fraction of that.
Personally, despite being a supporter of Dom over the years, I do think he needs a change of scenery.
His confidence in front of goal is low and his all round game is not as combative as it was.
I wish him well but I am sick of watching him miss -I'd rather watch him miss for someone else.

@110 on the subject of Dom Eddie. He absolutely has to go. I would only consider a new contract for him on lesser terms because he’s now unreliable and no longer a goal scorer.

It took a world class manager to make him the player he was. A manager that simply got the best out of everyone. Including DCL. We havent had a world class manager since and the evidence of that upon his game is there for all to see

Eddie @110,

Plus Beto actually cost £26M by the majority of accounts and has scored 14 goals for Everton.

Less than £2M a pop, and getting cheaper all the time!

Tommy, don't be rewriting histor.y

There is no doubt Ancelotti played to Dominic's strengths and it is an indisputable fact that Calvert-Lewin had his best season under the Italian but to suggest that he was responsible for the players 'only' good season is wide of the mark.

In terms of goals per games, Dominic performed better both under Benitez and Ferguson in the short cameos they had with the player.

Moreover, in the preceding season, 10 of the 15 goals were scored prior to the Italian's arrival, this despite him often not always starting, being hooked, and pretty much misused by Silva.

When Dominic didn't have the likes of James feeding him, he actually was a lot more clinical pre-Ancelotti with the exact same squad. He scored 24 goals in 1.5 seasons with Italian, yet 10 in half a season prior to his arrival.

I suspect that Moyes rates Dominic very highly and his performance against Spurs would suggest that Dominic is still a very capable striker. I think his woes can be put down to injury and encountering Dyche rather than the brilliance of the Italian.

Transfermarkt says Beto cost €25M which is just a touch over £21M by today's exchange rate.

He wasn't expensive and has proved decent value.

Sorry, 26 goals.

Eddie @110,

Beto has managed 11 Premier League goals. The £3M per goal ratio only becomes irrelevant if he actually adds to that tally. If we do sign this guy Barry, his chances of building on that will likely be limited.

Calvert-Lewin has scored 57 Premier League goals (a figure Beto will never get near) and cost us 20 times less.

Mike, when you want to forget the rest of Beto's career and focus on a handful of games when he did finally start scoring, I'm afraid you are already massaging his stats.

Some like Dom, some like Beto. Some don't like Dom, some don't like Beto. Some like both (I'm in that category).

It's a moot discussion because people's opinions only alter when a striker starts scoring goals.

Whatever happened in the past is that. I'm more interested in what they do next season for Everton, if one, or both are still here.

Likewise for any new striker we may or may not seek to bring in, including the players mentioned on this thread.

Ian #95:

"Let's see if Calvert-Lewin signs, I have my doubts he will."

It's going to depend on If he's had better offers. If he has, he'll be off… but, in the highly likely event he hasn't, I don't see him risking his chances of being a free agent.

Of course, he could just have made enough money that he doesn't care.

I hope David Moyes and his staff are doing their homework on their transfer targets and who ever they bring in, adds some balance and resilience to the squad.

I reckon this lad could do it, Beto, can do it, Calvert-Lewin can do it, but it's a long time since we had a reliable striker hitting the net season after season (Rom).

So it's slow business so far, but hopefully this is a sign Everton are doing their homework, to get the right players who would fit into the squad but at the right price.

A £100M transfer pot will need to be spent carefully, and as every one on TW knows, Everton the, new era, will take time and patience to develop from a work in progress to a reliable and competitive squad who can sustain a challenge into the top 6 of the Premier League.

If getting in players is a problem, getting shut of players has not been. Just seen an article on those who left recently.

None of Maupay, Dobbin, Gomes, Alli, Godfrey, Cannon, Simms, Onana, Holgate, Davies have exactly set the world alight.

I’m sick and tired of the DCL soap opera now. I’ve defended the lad through thick and thin but if he doesn’t want to stay then, good luck and Bon voyage. We move on. Next!!

Barry looks a no goer It’s now come to light that Villarreal believe Barry is comfortable staying at the Spanish outfit this summer, according to AS.

The Yellow Submarines qualified for the Champions League, and there is a belief he wouldn’t want to trade that for a move to Goodison Park.
Looks like we look elsewhere then.

Paul # 112, it’ll be like this all summer won’t it?! Big furore with each link and then we get Callum Wilson on a free two weeks after the season starts

Robert, apparently Newcastle are going to offer Wilson a new contract.

But he's 33, injury-prone and has mental health issues, so we should be looking elsewhere.

More likely Michael Antonio on a free.

A 35-year-old available and Moyes a big fan…