Everton bring in Portuguese striker Beto from Udinese

Everton have signed Portuguese striker Beto from Udinese on a four-year contract for an undisclosed fee.

Beto, 25, who scored 21 Serie A goals in two seasons with Udinese, is the Merseysiders fifth summer signing after the two clubs agreed a reported £25.75m (€30m).

Everton boss Sean Dyche said: "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."

Dyche, whose side play at Doncaster in the second round of the Carabao Cup on Wednesday, had previously added Ashley Young, Arnaut Danjuma, Youssef Chermiti and Jack Harrison to his squad since the end of last season.

Beto joined Udinese from Portuguese side Portimonense in the summer of 2021 and after netting 11 times in his debut campaign in Serie A, he followed up with 10 more league goals last season.

Dyche's bid to sign a proven striker was brought into sharper focus when the injury-prone Dominic Calvert-Lewin was forced out of Everton's recent 4-0 defeat at Aston Villa after sustaining a facial injury on his return to action.

Beto told Everton TV: "When a club like Everton tries to buy you in January and then comes again in the summer, you feel like, 'OK, 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.

"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."