Everton sign Thierno Barry from Villarreal for £27m: Decoding stats
What's the story
Everton FC have officially announced the signing of French striker Thierno Barry from Villarreal for a fee of £27 million. The 22-year-old has signed a four-year contract with the club, which will keep him at Goodison Park until June 2029. Barry had a release clause of £34.5 million in his contract with Villarreal but Everton managed to negotiate a lower transfer fee for him. Here's more.
Career highlights
Barry had an impressive last season with Villarreal
Barry had an impressive last season with Villarreal, scoring 11 goals and providing four assists in 37 appearances across all competitions. His contributions helped the Spanish club finish fifth in La Liga and secure a spot in the Champions League. All of his 11 goals and 4 assists came in 35 La Liga appearances.
Career trajectory
A look at his career in stats
Barry started his career in France's fifth tier. He played for Sochaux B, scoring 10 times in 22 games. He moved to Belgian second-tier side Beveren in July 2022 and scored 20 times in 33 matches. A year later, he joined Swiss side FC Basel and finished his first season as their top scorer with 12 goals from 37 games. He scored 8 goals in 4 matches for Basel last season before sealing a move to Villarreal for around £13 million in August 2024, where he did reasonably well.
Skill set
Barry's aerial prowess will help Everton
Standing at 6ft 5in, Barry is a major threat in the air. He was second among all forwards in Europe's top leagues for aerial duel success last season, winning an impressive 66.7% of his challenges, as per BBC. This skill set is likely to come in handy for Everton, who ranked seventh for open-play crosses in this season's Premier League but struggled to convert them into goals.
La Liga
The player's La Liga 2024-25 season in stats
As mentioned, Barry made 35 La Liga appearances last season. He scored 11 times and made 4 assists. As per Squawka Comparison Matrix (data by Opta), he had 63 shots (excluding blocks) with 25 of them on target. He completed 207 out of 332 passes, clocking a pass accuracy of 62,35%. He made 4 through balls and completed 27 lay-offs. He won 189 duels and completed 18 take-ons. He had 134 touches in the opposition box.
Twitter Post
Barry!
“You can call me ‘Barry’!” 🤳 pic.twitter.com/GNM6YvA5Y2
— Everton (@Everton) July 9, 2025