Arsenal legend kicking himself for not signing Thierno Barry as Everton secure £27m transfer

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Everton might have gone under the radar with a signing like Thierno Barry.

Although it’s only one through the door, Barry’s signature could turn out to be a very important one.

£27m is a slight portion of Everton’s £100m budget, but for good reason, as the striker looks promising.

Barry’s ‘unpredictability’ is what makes him special, and with someone like David Moyes teaching him about English football, the Frenchman should hit the ground running.

Everton were always likely suitors for the striker, but once upon a time, an Arsenal legend wanted to sign him, and now, he regrets it.

Marc Overmars wanted to sign new Everton striker Thierno Barry

It seemed like after his debut season at Villarreal, Barry was always destined to join Everton; it was just a matter of time.

Moyes seemed to play a big part in bringing the Frenchman to Merseyside, as he was making some noise over in La Liga.

It was clear that Moyes saw Barry’s quality and knew he could be perfect for his starting point of what hopefully is a successful second tenure.

But the 22-year-old could have had a much different career path thanks to Arsenal legend Marc Overmars.

Speaking to the print edition of Gazet van Antwerpen (12/07/25), Royal Antwerp technical director Marc Overmars has hinted at the regret of not signing Barry in 2023 for his Belgian side.

“I’m also trying, together with the scouting team, to map out the entire Belgian scene. Two years ago, we asked ourselves: should we take Thierno Barry (from) van Beveren?” Overmars said.

“He was playing just around the corner. Yet we didn’t. Other players have left through Belgium. In the future, it will be much more important to look within your own territory than at the whole world.”

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Moyes needs secret weapon to help Barry at Everton

What Moyes will need now is some creativity to resource Barry, as Overmars was clearly frustrated to lose out on his services.

Of course, Dwight McNeil has proven to be a threat when it comes to creating chances, but his fitness levels have dampened his time at Everton.

This could lead Moyes to find the perfect person to complement Barry, as Moyes was furious at set-pieces last season, which surely means he’s bringing someone in to fix that.

Adding in Barry’s aerial threat, the Frenchman could be a monster in the Premier League if he gets the service, but The Friedkin Group now needs to find that player after signing Barry.