Everton have made the Portuguese striker Beto their biggest signing under Sean Dyche as they look to find an answer to their goal drought.
The 25-year-old has completed a £25.7m move from Udinese and has signed a four-year contract at Goodison Park.
Beto scored 10 goals in Serie A last season and becomes Everton’s fifth summer signing after the free transfer Ashley Young, the loanees Arnaut Danjuma and Jack Harrison and the £12.5m forward Youssef Chermiti.
Everton have lost their first three games of the league season without scoring for the first time in their history and are bottom of the table.
It prompted them to renew their interest in Beto, who they considered signing last winter, when they felt he was overpriced.
Beto said he was particularly motivated to sign for Everton because of his hero, Samuel Eto’o, who had a brief spell on Merseyside in 2014.
He told the club website: “It feels good to join Everton. I have always appreciated them as a club. Everton is a big, big club in the Premier League, well respected and has big history. It was easy to make this move.
“When a club like Everton tries to buy you in January and then comes again in the summer, you feel, ‘Okay, they want me for real’, so that made the decision easy for me as well. 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.
“I am looking forward to getting started - today, right now. I know the team needs to score more goals and I will try to help with this. I love to score goals. I know we need this and I am here to help. I will always give my best to score goals. It feels really good to be here and I want to make my mark. Let’s do it.”
