Our Everton FC writers debate whether this could be time to let Beto leave now that Thierno Barry has taken over as the club’s first-choice centre-forward
06:00, 28 Jan 2026
With Beto having lost his place in the starting line-up and being linked with an exit before the transfer window closes on Monday (February 2), this could be the time for Everton to cash-in on the £26million man.
It would be a gamble, however. While Thierno Barry has made himself David Moyes’ current first-choice forward with an excellent run of four goals in his last five Premier League matches, the Blues can ill-afford to play out the reminder of the campaign with just one senior striker.
But should Everton get another frontman in over the next six days, could it be time to say goodbye to Beto? Our writers have their say…
Chris Beesley
It was after Everton’s last trip to Brighton & Hove Albion, just over a year ago, when David Moyes secured the first of 10 Premier League away wins to date since his return, that Beto suddenly found himself the last man standing among the four strikers in the squad at the time.
With Youssef Chermiti and the on-loan Armando Broja already injured, Dominic Calvert-Lewin pulled his hamstring in what proved to be his final start for the club.
Beto would go on to net four goals in his next three Premier League outings but after that purple patch in February, it’s been slim pickings for him.
Two more strikes followed in back-to-back outings against Ipswich Town and Fulham in May, but this term with a change in style and the emergence of Thierno Barry, the Guinea-Bissau international has gone back to playing second fiddle.
While he’s a terrific character and the kind of determined player who wears his heart on his sleeve that Evertonians appreciate, after two-and-a-half years in England, is Beto, who turns 28 on the final day of this month, ever going to fully convince at Premier League level?
He’s done well in fits and starts, but it remains doubtful.
With 18 months left on his contract, the timeframe to get a decent return on the £26m the Blues splashed out for him in August 2023 is diminishing.
The current window might be the best chance to get good money for Beto but if he is allowed to leave Hill Dickinson Stadium over the next week then it is imperative that a suitable replacement is first found.
Everton’s current haul of 33 points would already have been enough to keep them up last season but the bar will be higher this term.
It might seem pessimistic at this stage, but the Blues can’t be left with one potential Barry injury away from having no viable options up front before their Premier League status has been secured for another year and on a more positive note, they need to have at least one alternative option as they push for a European place.
Paul Wheelock
If you asked most Evertonians at most points during the course of the season so far about which position they believed the club should prioritise in the January transfer window, there’s a good bet they would have said ‘right-back’ and ‘striker’.
Now the former remains very much the case. Nathan Patterson has come in from the cold and has made the position his to lose with three solid showings there. That said, doubts remain over whether he is the long-term answer to what has been a problem position for far too long now.
But a new forward? Thierno Barry has muddied the waters on that one.
Despite dropping more points at home on Monday night, this feels like a season that remains alive with possibilities for Everton.
There is no question had David Moyes been able to call on a more experienced and proven goal-getter earlier on in the season then his side could have been right in the mix for European football rather than tantalisingly on the fringes of it.
But if you’re going to pay £27m for a striker, especially as one as fairly inexperienced as Barry, you have to show a little patience, and that patience is beginning to be paid back.
And that’s bad news for Beto. If the rumours are true and his agent has been looking for a new club for his client, it could be worth continuing that search as the former Udinese star now appears very-much second choice.
So if Everton were to move Beto on before next Monday – if not permanently, then a loan with an obligation to buy – then it makes sense.
But they would need a replacement lined-up first.
The Blues have been linked with a whole host of frontmen and I would not be against bringing in an Artem Dovbyk or a Calum Wilson in on loan – although the latter looks unlikely now he’s forced his way back into West Ham United’s plans – providing they were brought in to support and not hinder Barry’s development.
As two-time Golden Boot winner Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink said on Monday Night Football, Barry is not perfect, but he’s showing plenty of promise.