Beto

Key strength: Link-up play

Target man

At Goodison Park, patience wears perilously thin. Everton languish 12th in the table, stumbling through a torrid five-match winless run that threatens to derail their season before it truly begins. Yet amid this turbulence stands Beto—a 28-year-old Guinea international who embodies both promise and paradox. Signed for €20 million from Udinese in August 2023, the centre-forward has managed 9 goals from 37 appearances this campaign—a return that looks modest until you consider he's averaging just 44 minutes per outing. His 65 shooting rating translates to genuine predatory instincts, but Sean Dyche deploys him sparingly, more impact substitute than focal point. With creative talents like Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall operating behind him, Beto's solitary assist raises questions about his link-up play from a player profiled as a natural target man. His €18 million valuation remains intact, suggesting belief persists in his physical tools. But at peak age 28, Beto stands at a professional crossroads—capable of seizing the number nine role his price tag demands, yet increasingly at risk of becoming the €20 million substitute Goodison never quite trusted.