How Everton can replace Thierno Barry

Everton need to pick themselves back up after a poor end to the 2025/26 season, missing out on European football after going seven matches without a win at the end of the Premier League season.

It was hardly a disastrous end to the campaign, but there’s no question that Everton failed to take a significant stride forward across David Moyes‘ first full season back at the helm.

Everton might not have European football to offer new recruits, but they do have a stable project. In order to ascend to the next level, though, the Toffees need to add quality to the team, with signing a striker taking precedence this summer.

Everton ready to make move for Premier League striker

Everton are looking to add goals to their game next season, and with Thierno Barry and Beto both flattering to deceive throughout the campaign.

The 23-year-old Barry only joined the club for £27m from Villarreal last summer, and while he needs to improve, there’s a bit of concern over his long-term position in the team, with RB Leipzig exploring a move for the French forward this summer.

If Barry does go, Everton’s need for new attackers will only increase, but luckily, technical director Angus Kinnear is on the case.

According to Football Insider, Everton are ready to make a move for Chelsea striker Liam Delap, with Moyes waiting for the green light from the Stamford Bridge side before launching a formal bid.

Delap might have left a lot to be desired during his time at Chelsea, but the Blues recognise that they have a top forward on their hands, and have bumped up his transfer value to £40m, one year on from signing him from Ipswich Town for £30m.

Why Delap can be a Barry upgrade at Everton

Delap’s stint at Stamford Bridge hardly stands out as an impressive showcase of his skill set, but there is a reason that so many outfits swarmed around his name during his Premier League breakout season with Ipswich.

That year, Delap proved the difference-maker for Kieran McKenna’s impressive side, whose attacking play failed to win them a second successive year in the top flight. He scored 12 goals across 37 appearances, winning 4.2 duels per game on average.

Chelsea might not have drawn the physical and robust attacking qualities that Delap brought to the table with Ipswich, but Everton’s more industrious and direct approach would align with Delap’s own strengths – power being one of them, but also making aggressive runs in behind and finding pockets of space from where he can strike on goal.

There is a reason that Moyes had a vested interest in the English frontman one year ago. He is the Scotsman’s prototypical attacking profile, a “wrecking ball” in the final third, according to Sky Sports’ Lewis Jones.

Praised as a “monster” of an attacker by his former Ipswich teammate Alex Palmer, Delap has shown in the past that he has what it takes to excel at the highest level. It may well be that his move to Chelsea was a mistake – something he himself would admit.

Would he actually mark an upgrade on Barry? Well, the Frenchman was far too profligate across the course of the 2025/26 campaign, scoring eight goals across 38 appearances, but only bagging in two games since the end of January.

He’s raw and talented, exciting on the ball, but the Evertonian’s wastefulness in the final third – and, in fairness, misfortune at times – ended up limiting his and his team’s scope. Delap has more experience in the Premier League, and there’s a sense that he could dovetail into a team lacking a more imposing presence at number nine.

Delap isn’t in the best moment right now, but he’s undoubtedly a talented frontman, and moving to Everton could pay dividends for him, completing the transfer that he should have made when Ipswich’s relegation was sealed just over a year ago.

Whether he would compete with Barry or replace him remains to be seen, but if Delap recovers the form that propelled him into the limelight during 2024/25, it’s hard to see him failing to take the starring role in Moyes’ system.