Samuel Eto’o and Romelu Lukaku, two former Everton heroes, reportedly inspired Beto to go to Goodison Park.
In an interview with EvertonTV on September 20, the £26 million man acknowledged donning a Lukaku jersey as a youngster and cited Eto’o as his “all-time hero” in soccer.
Beto’s relationship with both Toffees strikers was a major factor in his decision to transfer to Merseyside; the Portuguese attacker stated that it was his “dream” to play at Goodison.
According to Liverpool World, Beto stated: “My buddies bought me that shirt. I often spoke to my friends about Lukaku, Lukaku, Lukaku while I was watching Everton games!
My buddies decided to purchase me a shirt for my birthday that had his name and phone number on the back. At the time, I was at Portimonense, but I wore it frequently. Some of the letters were even peeling off, as you could see!
Watching the Merseyside derbies brought back my early memories of Everton. Samuel Eto’o is my all-time hero, so I followed him to Chelsea, and I adored Romelu Lukaku, which brought me to Everton. Although I saw a lot of games and can still recall them, I used to watch the derbies and exclaim, “Everton can’t lose this!”
The 4-0 victory over Manchester City and the 6-2 victory over Bournemouth, both of which Lukaku scored four goals in, stand out. To play at Goodison is something I’ve always wanted to do.
High praise
Naturally, skepticism is used when players seem to suddenly become affiliated with their new team, but Beto’s tale had enough substance and specifics to sound real.
Following in the amazing shoes of Eto’o, who Beto regards as his all-time football hero, was undoubtedly a major role in the 25-year-old’s decision to leave Udinese even though he did not play the majority of his career in Merseyside.
It seems sense that Beto’s eyes were caught by the big Belgian during his time at Goodison because Lukaku is possibly the Toffees’ most memorable striker in recent years.
Beto is far from matching even Eto’o’s Everton production, but he got his season started with a goal against Doncaster Rovers in the League Cup. He will be looking to the Brentford match to finally get his first Premier League goal.
Despite this, he will be motivated to rapidly top Eto’o’s four-goal total from his lone season at the club in 2014–15, even though he is still 86 goals short of matching Lukaku’s all-time Everton goal total.
Everton supporters will want to see Beto score more goals, but if he even half the player either of their Goodison Park idols were, they might be in for a treat.
