Everton are set to begin negotiations with Jordan Pickford over a new contract but the England number one does not yet believe that he is at the peak of his powers
Everton will hope to have Jordan Pickford for his best years as the England number one does not yet believe he is at the peak of his powers. As reported on Friday, the ECHO understands Pickford is open to a new deal with the Blues as the club prepares to begin talks over his future.
The 31-year-old’s current contract runs until 2027 but discussions over a new one are believed to be imminent.
The Washington-born player joined Everton from his local club Sunderland in 2017 for a £25million fee that as a record at the time for a British goalkeeper and has only been usurped this summer when James Trafford returned to Manchester City from Burnley.
Shortly after his move to Goodison Park, Pickford made his international debut, keeping a clean sheet in a goalless draw at Wembley against then World Cup holders Germany on November 10 and he has remained undisputed first choice for England ever since.
Now on 77 caps, Pickford has smashed the previous record of appearances for the Three Lions for a player while at the Blues (Phil Jagielka, 40) and has passed the totals of David Seaman and Joe Hart (both 75) to become the country’s most capped goalkeeper after Peter Shilton, who retains England’s overall international appearance record on 125.
Pickford has also already broken Shilton’s record for the most clean sheets for an England goalkeeper in major tournaments and while he was a spectator for much of the contest, his shut out in Saturday’s 2-0 win over minnows Andorra in a World Cup qualifier at Villa Park ensured he hasn’t been beaten while playing for his country for some 540 minutes – some nine hours of play.
But as Evertonian Tom Jenkins pointed out on X, the team have conceded in every game he hasn’t played over that period.
Pickford has arguably done more than any other individual player in recent years to ensure Everton arrived safely at Hill Dickinson Stadium as a Premier League club.
But when asked whether he felt he is currently at the peak of his powers, he said: “I think I’m still growing.
“I’ll never say I’m at my peak, I’ll always be aiming to peak at the right levels and always wanting to improve. “I don’t want to be at my peak and then all of a sudden do that (gestures downwards). I want to keep improving and keep pushing myself, pushing the limits to get even better. “By that, I mean training hard every day with Luc (David Lucas, Everton goalkeeper coach) and the lads, putting in performances week in, week out and being consistent.
“I think I’ve done that over the last few years and I keep striving to be even better. “Being 31 or 24 it doesn’t matter about your age so long as I keep improving and feeling good, which I am and I’m still young as a keeper.”
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Pickford’s current sequence of 110 consecutive league games ranks sixth on Everton’s all-time list and he is now just 10 matches off matching his previous best of 120 set when first signing for the club with the overall record held by fellow goalkeeper Neville Southall on 212 between October 24, 1987, and February 10, 1993.
Club captain Seamus Coleman also tipped Pickford to eclipse his figure for the most Premier League appearances for Everton when speaking on his episode of Goodison Park: My Home in May (the Irishman currently stands on 370 while the England international is on 296).