Away from the pitch, things are starting to happen at Everton. The construction of the new stadium is edging closer to completion and The Friedkin Group’s majority takeover from Farhad Moshiri is also seeing progress.
On the pitch, there’s also been progress, to be fair, with Sean Dyche claiming five points from three in the Premier League after the Goodison outfit lost each of their opening four fixtures.
Jarrad Branthwaite’s imminent return will shore up the shaky defence, but Dominic Calvert-Lewin needs to do more (aside from staying fit) to provide the Toffees with the central focal point that can guide them away from relegation danger.
After all, Beto’s not proven himself to be the perfect foil at number nine.
Why Everton signed Beto
Everton signed Beto from Italian outfit Udinese in August 2023 for a fee rising to £30m, with Dyche unconvinced by Calvert-Lewin’s fitness record and looking for a reliable centre-forward to spearhead his system.
The 27-year-old is now fit as a fiddle and starting every week, leaving Beto to feed off scraps in the Carabao Cup and as a substitute, scoring against Doncaster Rovers in the second round of the cup competition but failing to impress against Southampton in the following round, hooked after an hour and branded with a 5/10 match rating by the Liverpool Echo, watching on as his team lost on penalties.