‘Everton to accelerate Thierno Barry talks after weekend development’
Everton are set to step up their pursuit of Villarreal striker Thierno Barry as they aim to get up and running in the summer transfer window.
The Toffees ended up comfortably avoiding relegation from the Premier League after the return of David Moyes to the club back in January, ahead of their move to a new stadium this summer.
But with so many contracts and loan deals expiring, Everton went into the window with just 14 senior players on their books.
As a result, the club are under plenty of pressure to add to their squad in the market in order to be competitive in the 2025/26 campaign.
It has been suggested that Everton could sign ten players in the next ten weeks in an effort to rectify those concerns.
Now the Toffees are taking further steps to get one of those potential signings through the door at the Hill Dickinson Stadium.
Thierno Barry transfer pursuit goes up a gear
As they look to strengthen in multiple areas of the pitch, Everton have been linked with a move to sign Barry from Villarreal, with their efforts to sign him now looking set to increase.
The striker has been away with France Under-21s at Euro 2025, which concluded over the weekend with his side having lost to Germany in the semi finals.
According to an update from The Times, the Toffees had planned to “accelerate” talks over the signing of the 22-year-old once the tournament had ended.
As a result, Everton may soon hope to reach an agreement to complete a deal for Barry as they look to add to their options.
It is noted that the striker has a £34.2million release clause in his Villarreal contract, but that the Merseyside outfit are hoping to negotiate a reduction to that fee.
Everton need to replace Dominic Calvert-Lewin
Football Insider Verdict
Barry will have been fully focused on international duty while he was away with France U21s, so it is no surprise that a deal has not yet been agreed.
But with the tournament now over he can start to think about his future, and so it makes sense for Everton to now try and do a deal.
While there is plenty of time remaining in the window, there is a lot of work for the Toffees to do, so they will not want to leave themselves with too much to deal with in the final weeks before the deadline.
As a result, now does seem to be a good time for the club to make a more decisive attempt to try and sign Barry.
Indeed, with it now confirmed that Dominic Calvert-Lewin will leave Everton when his contract expires this summer, the signing of a new striker has become even more important for Moyes and co.
With that in mind, they will no doubt want to get a deal sorted for Barry sooner rather than later now they can really focus on that agreement.