Scouting Report | Thierno Barry — Everton’s Striker of the Future, or Present?

With Everton’s squad (depleted as it is) having returned to Finch Farm for the start of preseason training, and the transfer window open, fans are eager to see some new players arrive. Many areas of the team are threadbare, with the striker position a particular concern, given two of the four centre forwards registered to the club last season - Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Armando Broja - have departed.

That leaves just Beto and Youssef Chermiti — and the latter was a near write-off last term, making only four appearances from the bench, in a campaign devastated by injuries. Beto impressed following David Moyes’ arrival in January, scoring seven goals in 18 games, but it’s clear that the Blues need competition up top. Enter Thierno Barry, whose capture from Villarreal, for a reported €32m initial fee, was confirmed earlier today.

The Lyon-born player came through the local youth system, eventually making it into the professional ranks with Sochaux’s B-team, making 22 appearances and scoring ten goals. He failed to play for the senior side, however, and moved on a free transfer to Belgian side SK Beveren in 2022, at the age of 19. He hit the ground running, firing 20 goals in 34 outings in the second tier Challenger Pro League, whilst often playing out wide, but second-placed Beveren failed to achieve promotion through what is a long and punishing playoff system.

Having caught the eye in Belgium, Swiss club FC Basel swooped for the young forward, snapping him up for a bargain-bucket €3m. Initially, he found the step up tough going, getting dismissed for two yellow cards in his debut, and seeing a straight red in his next outing, in a Europa League qualifier. Barry failed to score a league goal until late January — in what was his 19th appearance. After bagging a brace in that game, he showed marked improvement thereafter, finishing the campaign with 12 in 35 across all competitions. The striker started last season on fire, hitting eight in four for the Swiss club, before Villarreal came calling with a €14m bid, bringing him to Spain, and the big time.

The tall Frenchman adjusted to life in La Liga relatively seamlessly, scoring with a header in his second appearance for Villarreal — from the bench as a replacement for former Everton loanee Arnaut Danjuma. Typically deployed as part of a centre forward pairing, Barry ended up with a respectable haul of eleven goals from 35 league outings (25 starts), in helping the club to finish fifth. His progress in one of Europe’s top leagues brought him into the French setup for the recent European Under-21 Championship, in which he made five appearances, including playing 45 minutes as a substitute, as France lost 3-0 to Germany in the Semi-Final.

The 22-year-old is an imposing figure, standing at almost 6’5, and makes good use of his height, with a 67.3% success rate in aerial duels, which puts him in the 99th percentile for strikers featuring in Europe’s top five leagues and major continental competitions. Although he’s quite lean, he uses his big frame to his advantage, and is not easily bullied off the ball; as he matures, he will also undoubtedly get stronger. His first touch is a bit erratic, with his miscontrols ranking in the bottom 33rd percentile and his pass completion percentage of 62.0 (bottom 12th percentile) shows his rawness.

Barry’s holdup play is not where it needs to be as yet, but this is not unexpected given his relative youth and lack of top-level experience. A year in La Liga will certainly have helped to bring him along in this regard. That he provided 0.9 key passes per 90 minutes last term is a good indicator of his natural footballing talent, however, which Moyes and his staff will be keen to develop. Although he uses intelligent movement, he needs to time his runs better, as he was caught offside 0.77 times per 90 last season, which is in the bottom 25th percentile.

He does move well with the ball at his feet and his pace running in behind may alarm a few defences. In terms of finishing ability, the young Frenchman gets on the end of chances quite regularly (2.75 shots per 90; 67th percentile), courtesy of his quickness, clever movement and willingness to work hard. He’s not a clinical finisher as yet, though only fell a little short of converting the opportunities suggested by a season xG of 11.7 at Villarreal, so the ability is certainly there. Overall, Barry has most of the qualities that Beto possesses, although he’s much younger, with considerable room for development.

The deal to bring the young striker in for less than his €40m release clause is encouraging, displaying that the Toffees are willing and able to negotiate favourable terms, and not panic — an important characteristic, given that funds will have to stretch to cover a number of positions this summer. It is still a sizeable fee, especially considering the belt-tightening that has been necessary in recent years at the club, but there is sense in signing a 22-year-old, with desirable physical characteristics, a season in a top league and plenty of potential to round out into a formidable player.

Should Everton be finding the likes of Barry at an even younger age, for the sort of low fee paid by Basel? There are reasons why such moves are not made by clubs operating in the strongest leagues. Few will gamble on a youngster unproven at top level. The Blues did this when spending €12.5m on a 19-year-old Chermiti, but managers have not felt secure in trusting him with many minutes. Manchester United splashed €77.8m on Rasmus Højlund, then aged 20, off one solid Serie A campaign and 22-year-old Nicolas Jackson was bought for €37m by Chelsea, after scoring eight league goals in a run of eight matches for Villarreal. Both have struggled in their second seasons.

That there are plenty of similarities with Beto, who will probably enter the new season as Everton’s starting striker, which should help ease Barry’s transition into a new league —his fourth move to a different country in consecutive summers. This isn’t uncommon with promising youngsters as they proceed through the ranks, but the player will surely find the stability of staying in one place for a few years to be a positive. Moyes will stick largely to the formula which he put into place after arriving back at the club in January, using a lone striker who can both stretch the pitch and who is robust enough to give opposing centre halves a rough time.

Barry looks to possess those attributes. The plan should be to gradually transition him into becoming the team’s primary front man during the second half of the campaign. A positive loan for Chermiti this term - in which he racks up plenty of minutes in a competitive league - could see Beto, who’ll have one year left on his contract by this time next year, sold. Ideally, this would see the club net a tidy PSR profit on the big man, who’d be replaced by strikers aged 23 and 22, representing sensible forward planning. Overall, this is a good signing, for the present and the future.

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