Former Everton striker Ayegbeni Yakubu has backed Thierno Barry to come good while insisting that Idrissa Gueye’s spat with Michael Keane is “normal” in football. During his first spell as Blues boss, David Moyes broke the club’s transfer record for the third time in as many years on a frontman when he snapped up Yakubu for £11.25million from Middlesbrough in 2007.

The Nigerian international rewarded him with 21 goals in his first season at Goodison Park – becoming the first Everton player since Peter Beardsley in 1991/92 to reach the 20-goal mark.

But with Barry , a £27million acquisition from Villarreal in July still waiting to break his duck, the 43-year-old believes he can still be a success.

OPINION

Michael Ball

I lost it like Everton's Idrissa Gueye at Man Utd but ended up

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