The Timely Transformation of Thierno Barry

In a recent post to Instagram, just hours after his house had been burgled while he was playing for Everton, Thierno Barry defiantly proclaimed that “no one is going to stop this from being my season”. A week or so on and the Frenchman is very much making 2026/27 his breakout campaign, having stepped into the national spotlight with goals flowing and his repertoire of celebration dances on show in front of the Monday night and Friday night live television audiences.

As was argued in a piece on these pages at the start of the year, the belief was that Barry “is improving as he settles into life on Merseyside but he is not yet ready to carry our hopes on his relatively young shoulders”. That was arguably still true when the transfer deadline elapsed at the start of September when the then-23-year-old was the only recognised centre-forward on Everton’s books.

What has happened since has been vindication of the club’s original gamble on the raw recruit from Villarreal 16 months ago, but Barry’s form has also provided a “Get Out of Jail Free” card for a regime that left David Moyes woefully ill-equipped to mount a European challenge over the remainder of the campaign.

Only Erling Haaland has scored more than Barry’s six in the Premier League and in his 10 goals in all competitions mean he has already surpassed his tally for all of 2025/26. It’s a largely meaningless metric so early in the campaign because anything can happen but he is on pace to become the first striker since Dominic Calvert-Lewin six years ago to notch 20 or more in a season.

It’s testament to Barry’s hard work, perseverance and self-belief that he is emerging as Everton’s unlikely hero, shouldering alongside Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall the burden for scoring all but three of the Blues’ 12 League goals to this point.

Certainly, things looked a lot bleaker this time last year when he sat on the bench at the Stadium of Light with his head buried in his hands having been hooked by Moyes before an hour had elapsed following a glaring miss in front goal that, had he taken the chance, would have finally opened his account for his new club.

And it wasn’t at all clear what the future held for him back in March this year amid the controversy at the Emirates Stadium where friends of his in the away end were confronted by Evertonians for seemingly celebrating Arsenal’s victory in the away end.

That was followed by an alarmingly anaemic display off the bench in the Merseyside Derby, a match that prompted many an Evertonian to write him off as any kind of solution to the club’s striking needs.

With only six goals to his name by that stage and Moyes still not convinced by either him or Beto, the likelihood appeared to be that if he wasn’t sold on in the summer — there were rumours of interest from the likes of RB Leipzig — he would surely have found himself as second choice striker in 2026/27 to a new signing.

Of course, had Folarin Balogun’s deadline-day transfer from Monaco not fallen through at the last minute (and had the American been fit enough to hit the ground running at Bramley-Moore Dock), that is likely what would have happened.

The recruitment team’s decision to leave so much to the final day of the window was to Barry’s benefit, however, and he is grabbing the opportunity with both hands.

Barry’s journey to becoming who will hope will be Everton’s reliable marksman he hasn’t been a conventional one. Having failed to reach the first team at Sochaux, he didn’t enjoy the foundational benefits of steady progress from an academy through to senior level, and he then bounced around from Belgium to Switzerland to Spain before moving to Merseyside last year.

That’s five different countries, with differing styles and coaching approaches, so in terms of having a settled environment he’s something of a late bloomer. As such, his acclimatisation to the English game has required patience from the fanbase — which hasn’t always been forthcoming from some — but he deserves an enormous amount of credit for persevering through the struggles of those early months as an Everton player.

And there could and should be plenty more to come from Barry given that he is still far from the finished article. That there is considerable room for further growth in his game is potentially exciting for the Blues if he continues on his current trajectory.

Of course, only a few weeks ago, Barry was making headlines as the striker who has missed the most “big” chances this season — and he was out in front by quite some distance. He might on another day have had a hat-trick at Bournemouth but came up against a goalkeeper in Đorđe Petrović who was having a career day between the posts for the Cherries.

And there were spurned chances against Manchester United, Tottenham, Hull and Chelsea to go with a controversially disallowed goal against Ipswich, all of which could have padded his current numbers in the League and have him closer to Haaland at the top of the scoring charts.

As his hold-up play improves to go with his industry across the front line, his assists tally grows and he continues to demonstrate tremendous natural ability with this feet, it is Barry’s heading in front of goal that perhaps needs the most work. His powerful header against Coventry last Friday was an outlier in terms of his finishes with his head — he has tended to put other opportunities over the bar or into the goalkeeper’s arms.

That is an area that can be improved, however, with better coaching and if he can get it right, it will only make him that much more dangerous leading the line for Everton given his imperious movement in the box.

Thierno will be riding a wave of confidence at the moment but it is important that he takes nothing for granted because when they come out of the international break the Blues will embark on a potentially gruelling and hugely important run of 10 matches in all competitions before the transfer window opens again on New Year’s Day.

If he can continue at his current pace he will be more than halfway to the coveted 20-goal mark in the Premier League by the midway stage of the season. Few would have bet on that just a few short weeks ago.