Everton are closing in on the signing of the Villarreal striker Thierno Barry for a fee of around €32m (£27m). The France Under-21 international has a €40m release clause in his contract with the Spanish club but Everton have been negotiating for several weeks to lower the asking price.
A breakthrough has been made this week and, while the deal is not yet complete, the 22-year-old appears poised to become David Moyes’s second summer signing, following the £12.6m deal to sign Carlos Alcaraz permanently.
Barry, who was part of the France squad at the recent European Under-21 Championship, scored 11 goals in La Liga last season as Villarreal qualified for the Champions League. A new striker is a priority for Moyes as he oversees a major overhaul of the Everton squad this summer. The club missed out on Liam Delap, declined to take up an option to sign Armando Broja on a permanent basis from Chelsea and have seen Dominic Calvert-Lewin depart as a free agent.
Meanwhile, Jarrad Branthwaite has credited Everton’s new ambition under Moyes as a key factor in his decision to sign a five-year contract with the club. The 23-year-old has been Everton’s young player of the year for the past two seasons.
Everton had previously resisted interest from Manchester United in the Carlisle-born defender, who would have been in England’s European Under-21 Championship squad but for a hamstring injury.
Chelsea have also been linked with Branthwaite, but he said it was “an easy decision” to commit his future to Everton. He cited Moyes and the club’s new direction under the ownership of The Friedkin Group as key influences. “I’ve been at Everton for five-and-a-half years now and I’ve seen the change the club’s had over the past six months. It’s very exciting for us as a team, as players, to have that going on in the background and to be starting the new season at the new stadium. The ambition was a huge thing.
“The way the manager wants us to go as a team and what he wants us to do for next season and where he wants us to challenge for has had a big impact on the decision. I think you saw towards the end of last season as a team what we can do. The manager has been really good, not only for me but for the group. You saw the change in results, the change in mood since he came in. He drives the demands every day to be better.”
Moyes said: “He is still only 23 and his best years are hopefully still ahead of him. We believe he can have a huge role to play in an exciting new era at the football club.”
Meanwhile, Jarell Quansah has completed his move from Liverpool to Bayer Leverkusen in a deal worth up to £35m. The 22-year-old enjoyed an impressive European Under-21 Championship campaign as part of a triumphant England side, but found opportunities limited at club level last season. The homegrown central defender started four league games, 13 in all competitions, as Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konaté established a title-winning partnership.
Liverpool will receive a guaranteed £30m for Quansah plus £5m in add-ons. The deal is the third between the clubs this summer, following the Premier League champions’ acquisition of Jeremie Frimpong and record-signing Florian Wirtz.
Despite selling the young defender, who made his debut in 2023 and signed a new long-term contract at Anfield in October, Liverpool consider Quansah a player of rich potential and have negotiated a pre-agreed buy-back clause. “Everybody at LFC would like to thank Jarell for his contributions and wish him the very best for the future,” the club said.
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“I was able to get a good impression of the team and the club when Liverpool played Leverkusen in the Champions League last season,” Quansah told Leverkusen’s website. “Brilliant team – for the first hour, they played like almost no other side at Anfield.
“The ambitious targets here were clearly explained to me during the negotiations. It’s a great role and challenge for me to be part of the current Leverkusen rebuild.”
Liverpool could strengthen their central defensive options with a move for the Crystal Palace captain, Marc Guéhi, but Palace will need to reduce their £65m asking price for a defender who has a year remaining on his contract.
Quansah’s departure from Liverpool comes on the same day it was confirmed that the former Arsenal and Barcelona midfielder Giovanni van Bronckhorst has joined the club as an assistant coach, subject to receiving a visa.
Van Bronckhorst, who has coached Feyenoord, Guangzhou, Rangers and most recently Besiktas, replaces Arne Slot’s former assistant and the now Ajax head coach John Heitinga. Liverpool have also confirmed the return of Xavi Valero as their new head of first-team goalkeeper coaching. Valero worked for the club during Rafael Benítez’s reign and has spent the past seven years at West Ham. He replaces Fabian Otte, who is leaving after one season, while the Brazilian World Cup winner Cláudio Taffarel is also stepping down as a Liverpool goalkeeping coach after four years.
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