Thierno Barry received a rousing send-off from the Hill Dickinson Stadium crowd as he was substituted late in Everton's Premier League opening victory over Crystal Palace, a moment that underlined how far his standing among supporters has risen since the darker days of last winter.
The 23-year-old Frenchman was the architect of Everton's decisive second goal, rising to meet Iliman Ndiaye's cross early in the second half to double the home side's advantage and effectively snuff out any hope of a Palace fightback. As he left the pitch to be replaced by Beto, Barry allowed himself a smile while the home fans rose to applaud him.
Manager David Moyes was quick to praise both the finish and the buildup play that created it. "Look, strikers will probably be judged on their goals, so he can walk away and be really happy with it," Moyes told reporters after the match. He also made a point of crediting the delivery that set up the goal. "I thought it would be wrong not to mention the quality of the cross from Ndiaye. Thierno getting in the right spot was huge and scoring with a header was really big for us because it was an important time in the game."
Barry's afternoon against Palace represents a notable turnaround from where he stood just months ago. The forward joined Everton last summer in a £27m move from Villarreal, arriving off the back of an 11-goal season in La Liga. But his first campaign on Merseyside proved a difficult adjustment, and by the midpoint of the season he had managed only a single Premier League goal in 18 appearances, testing the patience of a fanbase eager for a reliable focal point up front.
His fortunes changed markedly from January onward, with Barry finishing the season having scored eight goals in 38 Premier League outings. Notably, half of those goals arrived after Jack Grealish, Everton's chief creative outlet, suffered a season-ending injury in January, thrusting more responsibility onto the young striker. Barry's underlying numbers also stood up to scrutiny — his tally came from an expected-goals figure of 8.1, and his shot conversion rate of 21.1% sat only marginally behind Manchester City's Erling Haaland, who converted at 21.4%.
Everton's situation when they signed Barry explains some of the early struggles. The club had endured a string of managerial changes and relegation scraps in recent seasons, compounded by a Premier League points deduction for breaching Profit and Sustainability Rules. Those constraints limited Moyes and his recruitment team's ability to pursue an established, ready-made striker, meaning Barry's development was always expected to take time.
Despite the promising display against Palace, Moyes was careful not to overstate his forward's progress, pointing to areas still requiring refinement. "I need his build-up play to be better," Moyes said. "I need him to be able to retain the ball for us so we can play into him more often. I want him to get in the right spaces, which he did today for the cross. He had a couple where the ball got played to him and he didn't quite deal with it with his feet. Sometimes he is out linking up when he doesn't need to be linking up. I think there is a lot to his game."
Drawing on his own experience of developing young strikers, including Wayne Rooney during his first spell in charge of Everton, Moyes suggested Barry has responded well to the challenges of his debut season. "I said last year that when you're a young striker coming in, it's not always easy," he said. "I think he's come in with a really, really positive attitude this year. I think he's come back with something that has stirred him up a little bit more, as if he's got something to prove."
Based on reporting from BBC Sport.