Everton have signed the Portuguese forward Beto from Udinese as they attempt to remedy the goal shortage that has left them bottom of the Premier League.
The fee for Beto, who has signed a four-year contract at Goodison Park, is officially undisclosed but it is understood to be £26m. The first payment is not due until the next financial year. He is the club’s fifth signing of the summer after Ashley Young, Arnaut Danjuma, Youssef Chermiti and Jack Harrison, and may not be the last despite the financial constraints at Everton.
Kevin Thelwell, Everton’s director of football, has made inquiries for Danny Ings but the 31-year-old is currently reluctant to leave West Ham. Everton could generate funds by selling Alex Iwobi and Demarai Gray. Fulham have made an approach for Iwobi, who is in the final year of his contract at Goodison and whom Everton value at over £20m. Gray has been the subject of a bid from Al-Shabab in Saudi Arabia and also has interest from Premier League clubs.
Beto, like Ings, was considered by Everton in January and joins with the club desperate for additional firepower having lost their first three games of the Premier League season without scoring a goal. The 25-year-old, whose full name is Norberto Bercique Gomes Betuncal, has scored 21 league goals over the past two seasons for Udinese. At 6ft 4in, the Lisbon-born forward should ease the burden on the injury-prone Dominic Calvert-Lewin while affording the 19-year-old Chermiti time to develop.
The new signing said: “When a club like Everton tries to buy you in January and then comes again in the summer, you feel like: ‘OK, they want me for real,’ so that made the decision easy for me. My idol, Samuel Eto’o, played here too, which makes it even more special.
“I can bring courage, I can bring confidence and I think my biggest thing is effort. I will always bring enthusiasm to the team and to our games. I feel like my style is a really good fit with Everton.”
Sean Dyche believes Beto is well suited to the demands of the Premier League. The Everton manager said: “We have been eager to strengthen our striking options to add more attacking quality to our squad and the arrival of Beto gives us that. He has impressed in a top league like Serie A for the past two seasons and scored goals.
“As a powerful striker who can carry the ball, hold up play, is strong in the air and works hard for the team, he has a lot of attributes that we hope can see him prove to be a success with Everton.”
