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Gareth Barry believes that the current Everton squad is the strongest he’s known during his four years at the club.

The 36-year-old veteran has seen it all in his career and is poised to break the Premier League appearance record this season.

At present, Manchester United legend Ryan Giggs leads the way with 632 games but the Blues midfielder only needs to turn out five more times next season to overhaul him.

Barry, who started Wednesday evening’s 3-0 win over FC Twente knows that the competition for places at Goodison Park is now greater than ever though.

Despite losing Romelu Lukaku to Manchester United, Everton have snapped up Wayne Rooney , Davy Klaassen , Sandro Ramirez , Jordan Pickford and Michael Keane so far this summer.

Having joined from Manchester City back in 2013 – initially on a season-long loan – Barry said: “In terms of depth it’s definitely the strongest (squad).

“Wayne coming in has added a lot of experience. He knows all about winning so that’s a massive signing for us and a big signing for the dressing room.

(Image: Tony McArdle/Everton FC via Getty Images)

“With the mixture of the energy and the young players we’ve got, experience as well, it’s looking very good. At the same time we all know the Premier League is very competitive, there’s a lot of money being spent on top players and we’ve got to get in amongst it.

“It was important with us qualifying for the Europa League. We’re going to need the strength in depth, not just for the Premier League.

“We found out a few seasons ago how hard it can be so the club’s learnt and got a really strong set-up here.

“We need to take these pre-season games very seriously, play them like we’re playing the competitive games because they are just around the corner. We’re going to expect a couple of tough games in the Europa qualifiers so we’ve got to be ready.”