The Blues boss said there had been no shortage of effort from Beto through his struggles this season
Beto celebrates scoring for Everton at Brighton. Photo by Steve Bardens/Getty Images
Beto celebrates scoring for Everton at Brighton. Photo by Steve Bardens/Getty Images
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David Moyes said Beto has been working “like a beast” as part of efforts to play a more significant role in Everton’s season.
The forward has struggled to re-discover the form that carried the Blues to safety 12 months ago and lost his starting place to 23-year-old Thierno Barry, who has started to show signs he is settling into the Premier League after a tough start following his summer move from Villarreal.
Barry’s progress - he has scored five league goals since the start of December, including a stunning winner at Aston Villa - has exposed the difficulties faced by Beto and the Guinea-Bissau international’s future has been the subject of debate through the January transfer window.
Everton would only allow the former Udinese striker to depart if they could sign a replacement Moyes believes is a genuine upgrade and, with the club having spent the month insisting it does not plan to spend big in this window, his exit is looking increasingly unlikely.
The player and his manager will both take heart, therefore, from his stoppage time equaliser at Brighton and Hove Albion on Saturday.
The goal - only his third in the league this season - sparked wild celebrations in the away end. After the game Beto, clearly emotional, climbed into the stand to give away his match shirt.
Asked what he thought the strike would do for Beto, Moyes said: “I think the reaction from the crowd probably tells you, I think that everybody has been desperate for Beto to do well and he continues to work, work like a beast every day to try and improve himself, to try and make himself better. Sometimes in life the harder you work the luckier you get.”
Beto is no stranger to emotional scenes at the end of struggles in front of goal - he shed tears on the pitch when he provided another last-gasp equaliser at home to Fulham last year and, the season before, when he scored a late wondergoal in a win over Newcastle United.
Through recent months Moyes has continued to praise his work rate, though the lack of goals have been an issue. After scoring in the August win at Wolverhampton Wanderers, his only other league goal prior to yesterday was in the second half of the miserable 4-2 home defeat to Brentford at the start of the year.
His Everton future has felt precarious as a result, with the club having explored a move for a striker this month. A loan offer for Youssef En-Nesyri of Fenerbahce has not progressed amid competition for his signature while the situations of Tammy Abraham and Callum Wilson were monitored.
Abraham has since moved to Villa and Wilson now looks set to stay at West Ham United having initially appeared due to leave the club. Against that backdrop, according to the Athletic, Everton rejected an enquiry over Beto from Juventus last week.