Statistician says hard-working Thierno Barry is perfect to bring in boss's preferred style of play

HIERNO Barry is the kind of hardworking striker who will enable David Moyes to implement his preferred tactics and deploy younger versions of Tim Cahill, Steven Pienaar and Mikel Arteta behind him in a new-look Everton team.

- By CHRIS BEESLEY

That's the verdict of Everton's official statistician Gavin Buckland, regarding the Villarreal player who has been targeted by the Blues this summer.

Everton hold a genuine interest in the 22-year-old, who scored 19 times last season - 11 of which came in La Liga - and has a release clause of around £34million. A flurry of reports on Wednesday suggested Hill Dickinson Stadium chiefs were continuing to explore a deal, though were looking to negotiate a lower fee for the forward.

Barry, who only moved to Spain from Swiss side Basel on August 21 last year, has been in action for France in the UEFA European Under-21 Championships but his side were knocked out at the semi-final stage by Germany on Wednesday, losing 3-0.

In the ECHO, Joe Thomas stated that the end of Barry's involvement in the competition could make it easier to move a deal forward, while it also now appears his club manager will not stand in the way of an exit.