Everton’s desperation to return to the apex of world football has melted away in the past few years, now replaced by a simple desire to stay in the Premier League.
It’s a sad indictment of the failures wrought throughout Everton owner Farhad Moshiri’s reign at Goodison Park, with the Iranian billionaire arguably too ambitious for his own good, particularly when seeking to achieve that goal without a long-term strategy.
He has since taken more of a back seat, but that has not completely stopped the Toffees from the occasional transfer blunder.
Kevin Thelwell could now be set to cash in on one of his new signings though, just over a year after bringing him to Merseyside.
Everton’s plans for Beto revealed
The player in question is Beto, who was bought for a mouth-watering £26m back in the summer of 2023.
And whilst this deal was sweetened given how delayed the payments were to Udinese, the selling club, his impact at Everton has been frustratingly minimal regardless of this.
Just three goals in the Premier League across 34 appearances is a tough return, even if he has seldom been handed a start, and it’s indicative of how out of favour he remains that he’s yet to make a start in the English top flight this term thus far.
However, despite this, and rumours linking him with an exit, TEAMtalk have emerged to claim: ‘Sources have revealed to TEAMtalk, however, that Everton have no plans to offload Beto in January, either on loan or permanently.
‘The club view Beto as an important squad player and believe he can still prove to be a success in the Premier League.’
Is Beto’s career at Everton already over?
There has been some debate over the last few regarding Beto and his future at the club.
After all, for some, his time in royal blue is up. They have seen enough, and already deemed him surplus to requirements.
For others, however, the former Udinese marksman is yet to be given a real shot, having yet to make more than three Premier League starts in a row.
To already write Beto off does seem cruel, even if he has yet to show any signs of long-term quality in his appearances.
However, he must be doing more when called upon from the bench, with his all-around play severely lacking in comparison to Dominic Calvert-Lewin.
When Everton manager Sean Dyche swaps the two out, there is a notable shift in how the entire team plays, resulting in possession getting lost far more easily without offering much more of a threat.
AS Roma are showing an interest in Beto, which could answer the question on its own, but until he has officially left Merseyside, there has to be some faith in his ability to still come good. He has only been in England for one full season, it should be remembered.
Receive a digest of our best Everton content each week direct to your mailbox
