Everton sign striker Beto from Udinese

Everton have signed striker Beto from Udinese on a four-year deal.

The 25-year-old arrives at Goodison Park for an undisclosed fee, thought to be worth around £26m, and has put pen to paper on a contract that will keep him on Merseyside until 2027.

Beto becomes Everton's fifth signing of the summer, following Ashley Young, Arnaut Danjuma, Youssef Chermiti and Jack Harrison through the door.

The Toffees' new number 14 could make his debut for the club when they visit Doncaster Rovers in the second round of the EFL Cup on Wednesday night.

"It feels good to join Everton. I have always appreciated them as a club. Everton is a big, big club in the Premier League, well respected and has big history. It was easy to make this move," he said after joining.

"When a club like Everton tries to buy you in January and then comes again in the summer, you feel like, 'Okay, they want me for real', so that made the decision easy for me as well. My idol, Samuel Eto'o, played here, too, which makes it even more special.

Bem-vindo, Beto! 🇵🇹 pic.twitter.com/ojdok4eGvv

— Everton (@Everton) August 29, 2023

"I can bring courage, I can bring confidence and I think my biggest thing is effort. I will always bring enthusiasm to the team and to our games. I feel like my style is a really good fit with Everton.

"I am looking forward to getting started - today, right now. I know the team needs to score more goals and I will try to help with this. I love to score goals. I know we need this and I am here to help. I will always give my best to score goals.

"It feels really good to be here and I want to make my mark. Let's do it. The fans' support for me means a lot because I didn't even make a session with the team and everybody text me saying, 'Beto, come to Everton. Everton is a great club. Come, come join us. Come to score'.

"For me that feels really good and I just want to contribute with goals and appearances. I talked to [Gerard Deulofeu] the day before I travelled. He told me Everton is a big club, has crazy fans, they love you and it is a really good club to play for.

"Words can't express the feeling I have right now to play in Goodison Park because it was a stadium I admired when I was in high school.

"I always wanted to play there because of the city, the derby and everything. I think the fans at Everton are a little bit more of a step up than the other fans so I am excited to play in front of them."

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Manager Sean Dyche added: "We have been eager to strengthen our striking options to add more attacking quality to our squad and the arrival of Beto gives us that.

"He has impressed in a top league like Serie A for the past two seasons and scored goals.

"As a powerful striker who can carry the ball, hold up play, is strong in the air and works hard for the team, he has a lot of attributes that we hope can see him prove to be a success with Everton."

The 6ft 4in striker joins an Everton side that is yet to score or pick up a point in the Premier League so far this season, losing all three of their matches to nil and propping up the early table as a result.

Beto initially joined Udinese on loan in 2021 before making that deal permanent 12 months later, and he leaves the Italian outfit having scored 22 times in 64 appearances across all competitions.

The Portuguese was Udinese's top scorer last season and also netted in his only appearance this term before securing his move to the Premier League.