Mark Travers says the lure of remaining a Premier League player was the main motivation behind his move to Everton this summer, following his successful loan spell at Middlesbrough last season.
Travers excelled at Boro in the second half of last season while on loan from Bournemouth. As such, Boro made early summer enquiries about the possibility of keeping the Ireland international for the upcoming season. However, it was long since known that a Travers return was highly unlikely before his switch to Everton was confirmed on Tuesday.
Boro were made aware early on that Travers already had lucrative offers on the table which has now transpired to be this move to Everton. The 26-year-old has signed a four-year deal with the Merseysiders. Officially for an undisclosed fee, it is believed to be in the region of £4 million.
While that wouldn’t have been out of Boro’s capabilities this summer, they wouldn’t have been able to compete with the Toffees on Travers’ Premier League wages, while staying in the top flight is an obvious attraction for the shot-stopper. With Sol Brynn returning from injury this summer, it was felt there were bigger priorities in the Boro squad that needed strengthening, and therefore the budget had to be allocated to those areas more so, with Boro never seriously competing to sign Travers in the end and instead closely monitoring the situation in the event anything changed and opened a door for them.
On joining Everton, Travers said: “It’s great to be here. Coming into the club, you straight away get a feel for how big the club is and the history that comes with it. I’m proud and excited to be an Everton player. When a club of this size comes knocking, and offers you the option to play in the best league in the world, it feels like the right next chapter for my career.”
Travers joins Everton ahead of their first season in their new Hill Dickinson Stadium. He will have to usurp Jordan Pickford if he’s to earn regular game-time at his new club - with David Moyes needing a new keeper this summer as Asmir Begovic and Joao Virgania left the at the end of their deals.
On competing with England’s number one for a starting spot next term, Travers added: “Jordan [Pickford] is an outstanding goalkeeper for club and country and I’m sure I can learn a lot from him, while pushing each other to be the best we can both be. I want to be a Premier League player, ultimately. So I’m delighted to be here.”
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Finn Azaz of Middlesbrough scores the opening goal and celebrates
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