Everton invested in Thierno Barry over the summer, but the striker has suffered a slow start to life in the Premier League.
Everton simply had to bring in another striker during the summer transfer window.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin was let go on a free transfer, and Beto’s purple patch last season was no great indicator of future success.
Everton decided to look towards the future as Thierno Barry arrived from Villarreal for £27million.
So far, Barry has yet to score a Premier League goal and has failed to impress in the opening weeks of his Everton career.
Thierno Barry in action for Everton.
Photo by James Gill – Danehouse/Getty Images
Iliman Ndiaye’s rise should inspire Everton striker Thierno Barry
Barry has only started two Premier League games this season and has really struggled to build momentum.
The 23-year-old has enjoyed a rapid rise in recent years, having achieved success at every level.
Look through Barry’s record and you will see why Everton took a chance on his potential.
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10 goals in 22 games for Sochaux B, 20 goals in 33 games for Beveren, 20 goals in 41 games for Basel, 11 goals in 37 games for Villarreal… Barry adapted at every step on his journey.
Barry kept scoring goals with every step up in quality, but may now have hit his first major hurdle.
The Premier League is an unforgiving league, especially for a young forward who is still learning his craft at the top level.
One man who can be a source of inspiration for Barry is Everton teammate Iliman Ndiaye.
Ndiaye was plucked from non-league Boreham Wood in 2019 and had fired Sheffield United to the Premier League inside four years.
The Senegal international had gone from non-league life as a teenager to earning a big move to his boyhood club, Marseille.
This meteoric rise stalled, though, as the dream move to Marseille became a period of major frustration.
Ndiaye was sold by his boyhood club after just one season, and he needed to battle through that setback to become a star once again at Everton.
Ndiaye is now being backed for a big move in the future, having impressed in an Everton shirt.
Barry has enjoyed a similarly rapid rise and now finds himself in a battle for first-team action at Everton.
These are the ups and downs of being a young player in a top league, but Barry should look towards Ndiaye’s post-Marseille resurgence as a real inspiration to kick on at Everton and justify his price tag.
Everton should become the place where Thierno Barry can settle
The remarkable thing about Barry is that he has made transfer moves in each of the last five summer transfer windows.
Barry left Toulon in 2021 and then only spent one season with each of Sochaux B, Beveren, Basel and Villarreal.
That is a significant amount of upheaval for a young striker, and some low points were perhaps inevitable at some stage.
Everton still see a bright future for Barry despite his slow start, and the Toffees must remain patient with him.
The move to Merseyside should allow Barry to settle and develop his game slowly after switching clubs rapidly in recent years.
Fellow Everton striker Beto isn’t exactly impressing, and with Barry viewed as one for the future, the Frenchman deserves time to adjust to another new league and become an Everton star down the line.