13:10, 12 Jul 2025Updated 14:31, 12 Jul 2025<\/p>\n
![\"Thierno](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/1_Thierno-Barry-signs-002JPG.jpg\")
Thierno Barry completed his transfer to Everton this week as his rapid rise continues (Image: Everton FC)<\/p>\n
Everton\u2019s acquisition of Thierno Barry is one of the club\u2019s most exciting in recent years. It\u2019s a move that\u2019s emblematic of the Blues’ more bullish outlook in the market, underlining the optimism that the new owners and stadium have instilled.<\/p>\n
Barry could prove to be a shrewd purchase. The 22-year-old\u2019s career is undoubted on an upwards trajectory following an impressive season in La Liga, which convinced Everton<\/a> to part with an initial \u00a327m.<\/p>\n It\u2019s the club\u2019s most expensive transfer since Amadou Onana\u2019s arrival in 2022, and the highest fee David Moyes<\/a>‘ has ever spent on a player during his two spells in charge of the club.<\/p>\n READ MORE: Everton have flipped the script on the Premier League after two exciting transfers<\/a>READ MORE: Everton get transfer green light after \u00a325m agreement as new \u00a317m winger linked<\/a><\/p>\n It\u2019s a particularly important move in the market given Dominic Calvert-Lewin<\/a>\u2019s exit, although Moyes has called for fans to show Barry patience, to afford him time to settle and acclimatise.<\/p>\n Supporters are eager to see the France Under-21 international in a royal blue jersey and there\u2019s real belief that he could thrive at the Hill Dickson Stadium<\/a> and that he could blossom into one of Europe\u2019s elite no.9s.<\/p>\n It\u2019s a feeling Patrick Dippel can relate with. The 44-year-old handed Barry his first taste of top-flight football two summers ago, when he decided to take a chance on an unpolished diamond playing in the French fifth tier.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s something special,\u201d Dippel, who spent two years as FC Basel\u2019s Head of Scouting, told the Liverpool ECHO in an exclusive interview.<\/p>\n \u201cWe watched him in the scouting videos and he was very raw. We saw some great things and some unorthodox things, but what you could see was his physical constitution.<\/p>\n \u201cHe’s tall, he’s fast. We saw the coordination was rough. He had some one-on-ones where he kept running directly into the opponent, but what you could always see was his mentality. With his physicality and his energy, he was worth the risk.\u201d<\/p>\n Dippel developed a habit of unearthing hidden gems across Europe and convincing them to join him in Switzerland. Tasked with discovering up-and-coming youngsters, ready to make the next step, Renato Veiga was signed in the summer of 2023 by Dippel and quickly moved on to the Premier League<\/a> with Chelsea.<\/p>\n Plucking Barry from relative obscurity, and providing him with the platform to succeed, may be his greatest achievement of the lot. After just one season in the Swiss Super League, Villarreal had seen enough to sign the Frenchman.<\/p>\n But it wasn\u2019t all plain sailing for Barry, who was sent off in each of his first two appearances for Basel and failed to score a league goal by the mid-season winter break.<\/p>\n \u201cHe struggled at first,\u201d said Dippel. \u201cBut, and this is the most important part, he kept going; he tried to get better. He did a lot of individual work.<\/p>\n \u201cThen you could almost feel during the winter break that something would happen. He had his situations and moments, it just didn’t work out. But at some point, when he keeps on going, keeps on working, then he will take these chances.\u201d<\/p>\n That\u2019s exactly what happened. Nine goals in the final 17 league matches convinced Villarreal to take a punt on the burgeoning talent – and justified Dippel\u2019s recruitment gamble.<\/p>\n Not every decision will come off, but during his intriguing career to date, Dippel\u2019s approach has tended to result in success. He began working in football nearly 20 years ago as a consultant for Fifa and the German Football Federation and went on to help a Germany side that featured the likes of Mario Gotze and Marc-Andre Ter Stegen win the European Under-17 Championships in 2009, before joining Bayern Munich in 2015.<\/p>\n