Poet with European goatee, say (5)
I believe the answer is:
beard
'goatee say' is the definition.
(goatee is a kind of beard)
'poet with european' is the wordplay.
'poet' becomes 'bard' (bard is a kind of poet).
'with' indicates putting letters inside.
'european' becomes 'E' (abbreviation e.g. EU).
'bard' going around 'e' is 'BEARD'.
(Other definitions for beard that I've seen before include "Boldly confront (formidable opponent)" , "Oppose with effrontery" , "SECOND PART OF 14" , "In good health; very" , "Facial growth" .)