Everton need a striker in January, but a new report suggests The Friedkin Group may not be willing to pay for one.

Since Beto left for Fiorentina in the summer, Thierno Barry has been David Moyes’ only senior centre-forward. And he’s been flying. His goal and assist against Newcastle took him to nine goal involvements in 11 games, and fans are firmly behind him.

The Friedkin Group reportedly only want loans and free transfers in January

According to Pete O’Rourke of Football Insider, TFG, who have put the club up for sale, are only interested in loan players and free transfers in the new year.

And Moyes won’t take it quietly. O’Rourke said: “If that’s not the case and The Friedkin Group aren’t willing to put money in, it’s going to be a source of massive frustration to Moyes. Everything at Everton is a bit up in the air…it’s a delicate situation.”

That doesn’t quite match what we heard earlier this month. David Ornstein of The Athletic said TFG would “be ready to invest in the January transfer market, they say, if that is a striker, which I could see coming in”, as we reported at the time.

So which is it? Well, a club up for sale isn’t usually keen on spending big.

Why a loan for a striker looks most realistic for Everton

If O’Rourke is right, a permanent deal for Drena Beljo looks a long shot, with Dinamo Zagreb unlikely to let a striker with 17 goals in 17 games go cheaply.

A loan may well be the realistic route. That’s why the Marcus Rashford talk makes more sense than it first seems. He can play through the middle, and he’d cost Everton no fee, though there’d be an obvious hurdle to overcome with the Manchester United forward’s wages.

But don’t expect Moyes to settle for that without a fight. He’ll be pushing TFG for a proper, established striker, and rightly so.

Barry is in the form of his Everton career, but can we really rely on him to keep it up for another seven months? Maybe. It’s still not a risk worth taking. One injury and Moyes has no senior striker at all.

Going into Gameweek 9, Everton are 11th in the table, with a Carabao Cup quarter-final at League Two Fleetwood to come. If they want to push for Europe, or go and win a first League Cup, Barry and Moyes need help.