Everton to offer Pickford contract extension to ward off Chelsea — report

As the saga of Thibaut Courtois drags on, several new potential replacements have surfaced in the wake of Alisson’s signing with Liverpool. They include Milan’s Gianluigi Donnarumma, Arsenal’s Petr Cech, Stoke City’s Jack Butland and England and Everton number one goalkeeper, Jordan Pickford.

Pickford was recently declared Chelsea’s top choice to replace Courtois, who’s assumed to be leaving for Real Madrid sooner than later. But as it so often happens in such cases, Chelsea may just be a pawn in this operation, as Pickford leverages our supposed interest into a new contract. (This also known as “doing a Sergio Ramos”, who excelled at this strategy for many years at Real Madrid.)

Pickford signed for the Toffees last summer from relegated Sunderland for £30m, with a contract running through 2022, so any potential purchase would surely be an expensive one, with fees in the region of £60m thrown out by media outlets.

However, if Pickford is to sign this reported new contract, which would increase his wages to more accurately reflect his impact both on Merseyside and for the Three Lions, then a sale falls into the “try again next year” category.

Forza Jack Butland!