Since his arrival on Merseyside in summer 2023, Beto has yet to prove the goalscoring striker Everton fans crave.
Twenty goals in 103 appearances works out at just less than one every five matches, so not the numbers to fire the Toffees to European football.
However, according to Brentford owner Matthew Benham, the 28-year-old ought to be viewed through more forgiving eyes.
And, with his data expertise, Benham ought to know. After all, he’s been the mastermind behind recruiting prolific strikers Ollie Watkins, Ivan Toney and Bryan Mbeumo in west London.
“When we played Everton at our place last year, Beto missed three one on ones,” Benham told the MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference 2026, external.
Yet Benham argues the Guinea international is of higher worth than those statistics suggests.
“Any decent data model worth its salt would give Beto an upgrade [based on the performance against Brentford],” he said. “That is the case for any player who happens to make three one-on-ones in a single game, even if they happen to miss them.
“Typically for a one-on-one, the odds are 50/50 that you will score. You might say he’s less efficient but the fact he is getting the positions for the shot is more important to us.”
A few more goals would still be nice though.