Everton sign Beto from Udinese

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

The 25-year-old becomes Everton’s fifth arrival of the summer, after Ashley Young, Arnaut Danjuma, Youssef Chermiti and Jack Harrison. He will wear shirt No 14.

"It feels good to join Everton. I have always appreciated them as a club," Beto told evertontv.

“Everton is a big, big club in the Premier League, well respected and has big history. It was easy to make this move.

“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."

The new striker has also admitted to being a fan of another former Everton player, Romelu Lukaku, who scored 68 Premier League goals during four seasons with the club.

"It was a present from my high school friends because they knew that I was an Everton fan, I was a Lukaku fan, a big Lukaku fan in those times," Beto said as he watched a clip of himself training whilst wearing an Everton home shirt from the 2015/16 season.

Beto, who is a towering 6ft 4in, will boost an Everton side that has yet to score a Premier League goal in their three matches so far.

The Portuguese revealed that he spoke with former Everton forward Gerard Deulofeu before penning his contract with the Toffees, and he can't wait to play in front of the Goodison Park crowd.

See: Transfer Deadline Day: All you need to know

"I talked to him the day before I travelled," added Beto. "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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The Lisbon-born forward spent time in Benfica's academy before spells at Portuguese sides Tires, Clube Olimpico do Montijo and Portimonense, joining Udinese on loan in 2021 before signing permanently the following summer.

Beto has reached double figures for goals in each of his past four seasons and was Udinese’s top scorer in 2022/23 with 10 goals in 33 appearances.

Everton fans could get a first glimpse of Beto on Saturday 2 September when Sean Dyche's side travel to Sheffield United.

See: Summer 2023 transfers