Everton and England number one Jordan Pickford opened up on his life on and off the pitch in an interview ahead of his return to Sunderland
Jordan Pickford reacts in the rain during the Premier League match between Everton and Tottenham Hotspur at Hill Dickinson Stadium. Photo by Robbie Jay Barratt - AMA/Getty Images
Jordan Pickford reacts in the rain during the Premier League match between Everton and Tottenham Hotspur at Hill Dickinson Stadium. Photo by Robbie Jay Barratt - AMA/Getty Images
View Image
Jordan Pickford believes Europe is a possibility for Everton but only if they can find a consistency that has been lacking so far this season. The Blues head to the goalkeeper's former club Sunderland on Monday sitting 15th in the table but just six points off the top seven.
The England number one said the club’s qualification for European competitions was a key factor in his decision to move to Merseyside from Wearside in 2017 - and the desire to return to that stage is driving him and the team.
Ultimately, he said as he reflected on his new contract with the Blues, ending the club’s trophy drought is one of his remaining ambitions - one that comes second only to lifting a major trophy with England.
Author avatar
Author avatar
And they are dreams worth sacrificing his love of motocross racing for, he added.
In an interview with BBC Sport ahead of his first return to boyhood club Sunderland since his transfer to Everton, the 31-year-old detailed his ambitions and expectations for the coming years.
Chief among them is to lead the Blues to better days after being their saviour through recent years of crisis off the pitch and relegation battles on it.
He said: “When I first signed we were in Europe and that was the driver then and that is where Everton should be.
“We had the two or three years that were a bit of a rollercoaster ride, weathered those storms and now it is all looking positive and the club is going in the right direction.”
Pickford was Everton’s most important player through the storms he referenced, saves in key matches against Chelsea and Leicester City allowing the club to maintain control of their own fate through the two toughest survival battles, in 2021/22 and 2022/23. The Blues' fight to maintain their top-flight status went to the final week of both seasons.
Instability continued, with Everton suffering an unprecedented double points deduction the following campaign due to financial breaches, and then David Moyes replacing Sean Dyche midway through last season as another fight to avoid the drop loomed.
That change in the dugout followed the takeover by The Friedkin Group a process that is helping to transform the club and which ensured a summer of transition through both the playing squad and the move from Goodison Park to the new Hill Dickinson Stadium.
On what now feels possible, Pickford said: “You see with the signings the club has made and the drive we have this season to improve, it comes from the top of the club.
“I think we will see a lot more positive results and us pushing higher up the table. You want to be playing in the Premier League and I have that opportunity with Everton.”
Moyes, who managed Sunderland in Pickford’s final year at the club before recommending the young keeper to Everton after the Black Cats’ relegation, has repeatedly set Europe as the target the Blues should be aiming for.
Pickford believes that is possible but, after a start to the season that has been largely positive, a sustained run of good results would be vital.
He said: “We want to be pushing that top half of the table. The manager is driving us to be in the top half and try to get into Europe. I think getting into the top half and sustaining that momentum in the top half and not dropping down and keep putting us as players under that pressure, to go get more results and keep improving, is definitely a drive.
“I think if we do that and, with the squad we have, we can push for Europe. We never know if it will be Champions League, Europa League, Conference League, but if we are in that bracket then we have had a good season.”
Since the start of the campaign, Pickford has penned a new four-year deal with Everton and broken the England record for the longest run without conceding a goal.
With the World Cup looming the keeper - who has helped England to consecutive Euros finals - said when asked about his ambitions: “For me, to lift that World Cup or a major trophy for England would be number one and if I could ever get silverware at Everton that would be number two.”
Those are his on-the-pitch dreams, anyway. Asked to share something that might surprise supporters, Pickford detailed his love for motocross - something he can only watch, not participate in, because of the terms of his Blues contract.
He explained: "I am not allowed to do it as a footballer but I would love to be able to do motocross. I grew up going to watch it every week with my mates, and my best best mate now rides in the British Championships.
"If I could I would go every week to watch as much as I can. I would do it if I could but there are strict rules in our contracts where we are not allowed to do activities like that.
"That is probably one thing in my life I would have love to have done."