There is a report that Everton have approached Villarreal about Thierno Barry, a young French striker who only joined the Spanish side from FC Basel in Switzerland last summer.
Barry will not even turn 23 until October, but has been turning heads with his season in La Liga, where he scored 11 times for Villarreal in 35 league appearances while adding four assists playing mostly as a center forward, with some movement out to the wings as well.
Sports Witness' Naveen Ullal indicates that the Spanish side "aren’t planning to sell as they feel Barry hasn’t ‘reached his peak’ yet," and that the club "‘will obviously listen to any offer’ they’ll receive for him." Ullal's source is SER Deportivos Castellon.
The starting point for the sale would be Barry's release clause, which is set at €40 million, and given Villarreal's stance on the player, it seems unlikely that there would be any negotiating on that number. But they also paid Basel just €14 million for him last summer, meaning the clause would give them a fairly sizable profit for the club.
There's little doubt that securing Barry's signature would be a coup for an Everton side that needs an influx of talent on the attacking side. He's scored goals at every level he's played at, has shown good vision as a passer (even if his success rates are low), along with a good mix of size (6'5") and pace to make noise as the competition level increases.
The bigger key is that Barry would be a different type of player than Beto, which would allow them to function as a tandem if necessary, with Barry playing off the main striker when the situation called for it. But the Frenchman would also be able to step in as the lone striker when called upon as well.
Everton were more than willing to pay the £30 million release clause for Liam Delap, which equates to roughly €34 million. That indicates they want to add to the depth at center forward and that they're willing to splash the cash for a good player.
Barry has shown he can do the job in a top league, although his experience is different from Delap's, to be fair. But a few more million more Euro to get a player that can help the squad immediately shouldn't stand in Everton's way.
If Thierno Barry is the man they want, Everton should pay the release clause and bring him in.