Everton spends £160 million but remains stuck in ninth place.
Everton have spent nearly £160 million on 17 strikers in 10 years but are still struggling to find goals. Beto and Thierno Barry have only scored one goal in 19 Premier League games, with the draw against Sunderland exposing the problem.
Thierno Barry's close-range tap-in in the draw against Sunderland perfectly encapsulated Everton's long goal drought. Ten years, 17 strikers, nearly £160 million, and the number 9 problem remains unresolved, even as the Merseyside team took an early lead but ultimately squandered the victory.
Beto and Barry: the numbers speak volumes about Everton's attack.
Manager David Moyes has been rotating Beto and Barry, but their killer instincts have yet to materialize. The two have only scored one goal in 19 Premier League games – a statistic that highlights their lack of effectiveness in the penalty area. Beto, a £21.5 million signing from Udinese, scored in last season's Merseyside derby but his form has been inconsistent. Barry – a £27 million signing from Villarreal – has consistently missed the target since arriving in the league.
Jamie Carragher commented: “Everton need a real center forward. If they don’t find a consistent goalscorer, they’ll be worried about relegation at the end of the season.” This wasn’t just a warning about individual performance, but also a reminder of the urgent need to improve Everton’s attacking structure.
After Lukaku, there's a long gap.
Since Romelu Lukaku left Goodison Park in 2017, Everton have scored 358 Premier League goals – the fewest of any team that has never been relegated. That number shows the club has failed to rebuild a reliable striker. Many players have come and gone without making a significant impact, such as Cenk Tosun, Moise Kean, Neal Maupay, and Salomon Rondon.
Richarlison once reached 43 goals in four seasons but had to leave due to financial pressure. Dominic Calvert-Lewin exploded under Carlo Ancelotti but was then hampered by injuries. As a result, the attack lacked a stable central axis, leading to drawn-out, stalemate matches and reliance on decisive moments.
Tactical changes and their consequences for the striker.
According to BBC Sport, Everton have changed nine managers in 12 years – enough turnovers to disrupt any cycle of building a playing style. For strikers, this has resulted in a breakdown in pressing principles, second-ball organization, and the quality of final passes. When roles change constantly, confidence in goal is also difficult to build.
In that context, situations like Barry's missed shot or Beto's indecisive play are no longer isolated individual errors. They reflect an attacking system lacking consistency and a habit of creating high-quality chances.
Transfers and the Unsolved Problem
Since Friedkin's group took over, Everton spent £97 million in the 2025 summer transfer window, mostly on young talents like Tyler Dibling and Barry. This "buy cheap, nurture talent" policy helped balance the finances, but failed to address the pressing need: a consistent goalscorer.
We need a top-class striker like Lukaku.
The goal of returning to Europe and ending a 30-year trophy drought forces Everton to break the curse of playing in the number 9 position. Jack Grealish's impressive performances this season are not enough for Moyes' team to break through. When missed opportunities continue to repeat themselves, confidence erodes faster than it takes for a football project to crystallize into goals.
The upcoming January transfer window is therefore seen as Moyes' last chance to find a "new Lukaku" – someone who can turn around Everton's scoring drought and lift them out of their goal-scoring woes.
