Jordan Pickford has surely established himself as one of the greats to play for England as he looks ahead to his 74th cap.
The Everton goalkeeper is in line for his 74th game with the Three Lions If he starts Thomas Tuchel’s debut game against Albania on Friday.
Pickford has always been Mr reliable for Everton and his country but Thomas Tuchel could change Pickford’s position with England with competition in the squad building.
It doesn’t seem like the Toffees keeper has anything to worry about regarding his spot for both club and country at the moment and Evertonians must appreciate their No. 1 position.
With his success, Pickford has named the player that helped him to reach this status as a goalkeeper.
Photo by Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images
Photo by Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images
Everton’s Jordan Pickford said he looked up to Joe Hart
Every keeper has their hero and in Pickford’s case, it was Joe Hart, who himself was an excellent option for England and Man City.
The former goalkeeper will have no doubt nurtured Pickford himself as similarities are shared between the two like Hart’s relationship with Sean Dyche, as Pickford never seemed to get on the wrong side of David Moyes’ predecessor.
It seems like Pickford will overtake Hart’s legacy in the Three Lions’ goalkeeper rankings as the Everton keeper is only two behind Hart’s 75 caps.
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The hope is that Pickford will equal Hart’s record with Albania and Latvia to come in this international break, but whatever happens now, it’s clear Pickford will hold a lot of respect for Hart, after speaking in Wednesday’s pre-match interview.
“I have always looked up to Harty, he was the number one when I was a young kid and I’ve always wanted to be Joe Hart,” Pickford said.
“So it will be a great honour to get those two caps and push forward and get ahead of them.”
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Joe Hart could’ve joined Everton before Pickford in 2016
He might have great admiration for the goalkeeping legend that is Hart, but Pickford might not be at Everton had his hero joined the Toffees before him.
Hart believes Pickford is underrated at Everton and doesn’t think the keeper gets the credit he deserves maybe much like his own playing career.
Well, it’s his own playing career that almost affected the England number one, as Hart was linked with a move to Everton in 2016, according to The Sun.
Farhad Moshiri was said to be interested in Hart who was looking to exit City, and Moshiri was supposedly readying a £40m bid for the shot-stopper.
It was an ambitious move but if it had paid off, we may never have seen Pickford join the Toffees the season after.
The two clearly hold a lot of respect for each other, but it could’ve played out so differently for Pickford’s career.