It seems like Everton are putting a real focus on reshaping their attack ahead of a historic season in 2025/26. The Toffees are set to move into the Hill Dickinson Stadium, and will be looking to build on the momentum they gathered under David Moyes at the back end of last season.
Thierno Barry will be one of their new attacking players in this new era. It has finally been confirmed that the Frenchman is now a new Everton player, following his £27m move from Villarreal. He replaces Dominic Calvert-Lewin, who left the club on a free transfer.
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However, it appears that the 22-year-old will not be the only attacker to switch to the Hill Dickinson Stadium this summer.
Everton targeting new winger
As well as looking to sign a striker, in the form of Barry, Moyes’ side seems set to sign a new winger this summer. It was reported earlier this week that Real Sociedad winger Takefusa Kubo has emerged as a target, and they reportedly have someone else in their sights.
A recent report from Turkey suggests that the Toffees are ‘following’ the movements of Benfica winger Kerem Akturkoglu, who is wanted by a couple of teams in the Premier League.
Indeed, the winger, who has strong ties to Galatasaray and would ‘not consider’ playing for any other Turkish team, is wanted by Nottingham Forest, the first English top-flight team to contact Benfica, and newly promoted Sunderland.
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If Everton are to win the race for Akturkoglu, they will need to spend £38m, which is Benfica’s asking price.
Why Akturkoglu would be a good signing
The 2024/25 campaign, Akturkoglu’s first as a Benfica player, was an incredibly impressive season. He lit up the Portuguese top flight, and it is not hard to see why Everton are looking to sign him this summer.
Benfica's Kerem Akturkoglu in action with FC Barcelona's Frenkie de Jong
In 53 appearances for the Portuguese giants, Akturkoglu contributed to 16 goals and 13 assists. That included the very impressive tally of 11 goals and 11 assists in the Liga Portugal, and an assist in the final of the Taca de Portugal, helping his side lift the trophy by beating Sporting.
It is easy to see why football scout Antonio Mango described the Turkey international as a "talented" player, having previously hailed him as "unstoppable" back in Istanbul.
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Indeed, it is not just at Benfica that the winger, who can play on the left or right-hand side, has performed so well. He played 179 games for Galatasaray, finding the back of the net 46 times and grabbing 42 assists.
He scored twice in the Champions League for the club, with both of those strikes coming against Manchester United, including this stunning effort. It will surely please Everton that Akturkoglu can be so effective against elite English top-flight sides.
For Barry, seeing a player with the creative nous of Akturkoglu walk through the doors at Everton after him must be a thrilling prospect. The new Toffees striker, who was born in Lyon, was on fire for Villarreal last season, with 11 goals and four assists in 37 games.
He certainly left an impression last term, showing good striker’s instinct in the penalty box, as the goal below shows. Everton have certainly missed that, with just two players bagging ten or more goals in 2024/25.
Well, Akturkoglu will certainly bring the creativity to the Toffees side, which can help make Barry unstoppable. The stats on FBref highlight some of those creative talents, with a standout number being his 0.67 goal-creating actions per 90 minutes, placing him in the top 6% of attacking midfielders and wingers in Portugal.
Akturkoglu key stats and rank 2024/25
Stat (per 90)
Goals and assists
Assists
Expected assists
Key passes
Shot-creating actions
Goal-creating actions
Stats from FBref
It is stats like those which show Akturkoglu could be the man to help up the goalscoring levels of this Everton side. The 26-year-old could well become Barry’s dream winger, with the way he is able to fashion goalscoring opportunities out of nowhere.
Akturkoglu
Of course, £38m is a large asking price, but Everton have shown a willingness to invest big money into their attack, and Akturkoglu could be the man to help take that to the next level.
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