When Everton forked out £27m to sign up-and-coming goalscorer Thierno Barry last summer, they knew they were paying for a top talent.
Everton also knew they were paying for an unpolished attacker who would not enter the Premier League arena with the promise of so many goals from the outset.
Barry toiled away through the opening months of the 2025/26 campaign, but he's now hit a bright purple patch in the top flight, posting five goals from his past eight starts, and is making inroads for a Toffees side who are pushing for a top-half finish.
However, the hard-working Frenchman is only 23, and he may well dip before the end of the season. With Beto flattering to deceive for a while now, David Moyes is determined to sign a striker before the end of the month.
Everton's plans to sign a striker
Barry cut a frustrated figure across the opening months of his Everton career. He worked and huffed and puffed, but each missed chance wore him down like a millstone around his neck, and the thought that he would fail to make it work gnawed at the back of supporters' minds.
But Barry is now putting paid to such concerns, and as he goes from strength to strength, it would take a top striker to take the number one spot from him up top.
Barry
Someone like Jhon Duran might stand a chance. According to Spanish sources, Everton have joined West Ham United in registering their interest in the Al-Nassr striker, who is currently on loan in Turkey with Fenerbahce.
Duran, 22, rose to prominence with Aston Villa, but left for Saudi Arabia in a £64m move one year ago. His clinical fortunes under Unai Emery have not translated to ostensibly easier playing fields, and such an emotional player may now be angling for a return to the fierce competition of the Premier League.
Al Nassr's Jhon Duran reacts
With the World Cup now only months away, the Colombian is reluctant to move to a side who will offer him a second-fiddle spot, but there's a sense that Duran might have the quality to overtake Barry as Everton's starring number nine.
Why Duran could become the main man for Everton
In the Premier League, Duran only started seven of his 55 appearances for Aston Villa. And yet he scored 12 goals, the ultimate super-sub for an outfit on the up.
jhon duran PL stats (timeless)
Duran only played 18 times for Al-Nassr, scoring 12 goals, before moving to the Turkish Super Lig last summer, leaving the club due to personal issues.
And while his performances in front of goal have left something to be desired this season, he was a "true monster" in England, deadly and unpredictable in the final third.
Duran has walked a strange career path, and to return to English football after a plentiful short stint previously, since moving to Saudi Arabia and Turkey and having previously kicked into life over the pond in the United States, would be in keeping with his wandering journey so far.
There would be an element of risk involved, but Moyes' principled and focused system could be the perfect environment for Duran to get his career back on track, especially when considering how strong his performances were at Villa Park under Emery's management.
Jhon Duran - Aston Villa Stats by Competition
Competition
Premier League
Conference League
Champions League
EFL Cup
FA Cup
Data via Transfermarkt
Given that he has the mark of an elite goalscorer, there's a sense that Duran could end up outstripping Barry in an Everton shirt. The former Villarreal forward is a hard worker, and he definitely knows how to find the back of the net, but it remains to be seen whether he will maintain this current run of form, having missed six of his first eight big chances in the Premier League.
Duran, conversely, rode the crest of a wave for 18 months in England, and while his decision to leave the Premier League and move to a young project in Saudi Arabia drew criticism, he is still at the start of his career, and could prove a force to be reckoned with if welcomed to Merseyside.
Jhon-Duran
Jhon Duran
West Ham are looking to pounce themselves, and it's worth remembering the Hammers came close to signing Duran back in January 2025, before he left the country.
If Everton and Moyes are serious here, they must now act with speed and precision.
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