Villarreal striker Thierno Barry has been linked with a transfer to Everton after Ipswich Town's Liam Delap joined Chelsea
Villarreal's Thierno Barry playing for France Under-21s
Villarreal's Thierno Barry playing for France Under-21s
Everton have been linked with a move for Thierno Barry. But what might the towering Villarreal striker potentially bring to the Blues’ side?
Earlier this week, Patrick Boyland of The Athletic reported that Everton have been tracking Barry plus Stuttgart’s Nick Woltemade, who stand at 6ft 5in and 6ft 6in respectively and now TEAMtalk claim the Blues would have to come close to offering a figure close the 22-year-old’s €40million (£33.6m) buyout clause to prise him away from his Spanish employers.
Born in Lyon on October 21, 2002, Barry is of Guinean descent and has been capped three times by France Under-21s. After youth team spells with local clubs Montchat Lyon and Saint-Priest, Barry, in 2021, he joined Sochaux-Montbeliard, but despite netting 10 goals in 22 games for their B team in Championnat National 3 – French football’s fifth tier – he never received a senior call-up.
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Instead, Barry embarked on a trial with Belgian Challenger Pro League (second division) outfit Beveren in the summer of 2022 and earned a two-year contract. He’d net 20 times in 31 matches in the competition in 2022/23, which earned him a move to Swiss side Basel.
Barry struck 12 goals in 37 games in his only full season in Switzerland but after a blistering start to the 2024/25 campaign, plundering eights goals in his first four outings, he was sold by the club who were on their way to a 21st domestic title on August 21 last year for €15million (£12.7m) plus add-ons, penning a five-year deal. A further 11 goals in 37 matches followed for The Yellow Submarine.
Just what kind of player is he, though? Comparisonator’s Similarity tool calculates Chris Wood of Nottingham Forest as being the Premier League player who matches Barry closest with a score of 93%. He’s followed by Kai Havertz of Arsenal on 91% while Jorgen Strand Larsen of Wolverhampton Wanderers and Raul Jimenez of Fulham both score 84%, ahead of Chelsea’s Nicolas Jackson on 74% and Crystal Palace’s Jean-Philippe Mateta on 58%.
What is also curious is that Comparisonator’s Artificial Intelligence Team Finder reckons that Barry (with a A.I. Suitability Weight of 218.21) would be a better fit than the incumbent strikers at no fewer than seven Premier League clubs, including Ipswich Town’s Liam Delap, who Everton tried to sign but has just joined Chelsea; Liverpool’s Darwin Nunez; Leicester City’s Jamie Vardy; Fulham’s Rodrigo Muniz; Manchester United’s Rasmus Hojlund and Joshua Zirkzee; Southampton’s Paul Onuachu and Cameron Archer; plus Blues pair Beto (195.64) and Dominic Calvert-Lewin (193.66).
Villarreal's Thierno Barry's Suitability Weight to play as a striker for Premier League clubs on Comparisonator's A.I. Team Finder
Villarreal's Thierno Barry's Suitability Weight to play as a striker for Premier League clubs on Comparisonator's A.I. Team Finder
We can use Comparisonator’s Virtual Transfer tool to correlate Barry’s statistics from La Liga in 2024/25 against Premier League players in his position. When it comes to goals per 90 minutes, his 0.31 would have him down in 18th place in a category topped by Erling Haaland of Manchester City on 0.71, although his aerial presence is highlighted by him moving up to eighth (0.09) when it comes to goals by headers, where Wood leads the way on 0.22.
When it comes to expected goals (xG), Barry would be 13th on 0.36, a category that is topped by Haaland on 0.69, but he moves up to eighth on 0.74 for playing in scoring attacks, a section led by Alexander Isak of Newcastle United on 1.12. The Villarreal man gets in 1.71 shots per 90 minutes, which would place him 15th behind leader Haaland on 3.16 while for shots on target, he drops to 21st with 0.69, with Haaland again on top on 1.9.
Barry’s height helps makes him a fearsome competitor in the air and only one Premier League player can top his 2.6 offensive aerial duels won per 90 minutes. It just so happens that individual is Everton’s Calvert-Lewin (2.76) with the 6ft 7in Onuachu up next (2.56) followed by fellow Blue Beto (2.54).
David Moyes has already shown that he is in the market for a new striker this summer with his unusually public pursuit of Delap, confirming that the player had held transfer talks with Everton before ultimately moving from Ipswich Town to Chelsea this week.
Delap’s £30million price was set because of his relegation release clause but so many Premier League clubs looking for fresh firepower it could be a crowded market, the Blues will have to box clever in what is typically the most expensive position to fill, when it comes to identifying emerging talent, yet still might have to pay more for someone like Barry, even though he possesses no experience in English football.
*Comparisonator is a football data comparison tool from 271 professional leagues around the world which compares players and clubs by utilising over 100 different parameters. Click here for more details.