Everton are reportedly set to offer Jordan Pickford a bumper summer deal to snub interest from Arsenal and Manchester City in their favour.
According to a Daily Express exclusive, Everton are ready to offer Jordan Pickford a bumper £90,000-a-week deal to lure him to Goodison Park. The Sunderland goalkeeper is also being tailed by Arsenal and Manchester City.
Sunderland have endured a campaign full of disasters in 2016/17. With just 6 games left to play in the season, the Black Cats are rooted to the bottom of the Premier League table – a massive 12 points adrift of safety.
But while Sunderland are doomed to face the drop in a few weeks’ time, there is one player among their ranks who is primed for bigger things beyond this season. Jordan Pickford has emerged as one of the most exciting young talents in England this season, and has been one of the few shining lights for the club in an otherwise disastrous campaign.
? | Everton are reportedly prepared to offer Jordan Pickford a huge contract this summer. #EFChttps://t.co/HQgG9HPMw9 pic.twitter.com/ER0zw4MEeF
— Read Everton (@ReadEverton) April 23, 2017
Possessing lightning quick reflexes and tremendous shot stopping abilities, his exploits between the posts have been a big reason Moyes’ side has let in just 58 goals – an amount that could have been significantly higher, if not for Pickford.
A stunning campaign has also resulted in Pickford earning his maiden international callup to the England National Team while also being nominated for the PFA Young Player of the Year award. Suffice to say, he is a prospect who is rightly being touted for big things.
That can certainly not be achieved with Sunderland who, barring a miracle, are set to play Championship football next season. And some of the biggest clubs in the Premier League are already starting to line up for the custodian.
Of these, Arsenal, Manchester City and Everton are the clubs leading the race to sign him and are set to wage a three-way battle to secure his services in the summer.
Arsenal have, in fact, been monitoring Pickford’s progress for a long time now, with Arsene Wenger believed to keen to recruit a long-term goalkeeping prospect for his squad. Petr Cech has had an underwhelming campaign by his lofty standards, and his form suggests that age might be catching up to him.
Meanwhile, David Ospina has failed to usurp Cech as the Arsenal number one and hasn’t done much to gain Wenger’s confidence. And while Wojciech Szczesny’s loan spell at AS Roma is set to end in June, there is little clarity over his future at the Emirates.
At Manchester City, goalkeeping has been a big problem area for Pep Guardiola, with neither Claudio Bravo nor Willy Caballero being consistent enough to earn a place as the first-choice goalkeeper at the Etihad Stadium.
Thus, Pickford has been identified as the ideal goalkeeper to become a long-term solution in goal for City. However, Everton are now preparing an offer that they believe can tempt Pickford to snubbing both Arsenal and Manchester City.
A contract worth £90,000 per week is being drawn up for the 23-year-old, putting them in pole position to land him in the summer transfer window. Pickford is likely to be installed as the first-choice goalkeeper by Ronald Koeman, who is eager to find an upgrade over Joel Robles and Maarten Stekelenburg.
Pickford’s current deal with Sunderland runs till 2020 and he is likely to command a sizeable fee. It remains to be seen if Arsenal and City improve on Everton’s offer in the coming weeks. For now though, Pickford would aim to do all he can to help Sunderland delay or miraculously avoid the seemingly inevitable.
