Jordan Pickford’s days as Everton No.1 could be numbered

With yet another uninspired performance between the posts, this time against Fleetwood in the Carabao Cup, is Jordan Pickford still safe as Everton’s first choice goalkeeper?

After each game this season, there seems to be endless praise for the players. James Rodriguez, Allan and Abdoulaye Doucoure have been worth their weight in gold, up and coming players Anthony Gordon and Niels Nkounkou have gone above and beyond their expectations and both Richarlison and Dominic Calvert-Lewin are a sublime partnership upfront.

However, the one constant throughout the new season has been people’s cries to see Jordan Pickford no longer be Everton’s first choice keeper. In almost every game he’s made silly mistakes and conceded simple goals.

I know a goalkeeper can never be perfect, but when this same feeling of anger and frustration continues week in, week out, then there comes a limit to how many errors one person can make before they have to move aside and make way for somebody else.

The worst examples of this was from Wednesday night’s 5-2 win against Fleetwood. Everton were clear favourites to win after the first half but a sudden surge in the second half saw Fleetwood bring back 2 goals in the space of 10 minutes. Both goals should have been saved, one not being cleared from his line properly and another shot right at him and a flailing arm sent it into his own net.

Ancelotti has said on numerous occasions that he believes in Pickford and expressed on Wednesday that it wasn’t all his fault and it was a team mistake. With this being said, Ancelotti is still in the market for a new keeper and hasn’t been trying to keep that a secret. There has been numerous inquiries and potential offers made for a few players over the course of the transfer window.

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One of the recurring stories has been that of Manchester United shot stopper Sergio Romero. With United eager to offload a lot of players to make way for the potential arrival of Jadon Sancho, Everton should jump at the chance to buy the Argentine.

The 33 year old has made 58 appearances for the Red Devils and has a total of 38 clean sheets, that’s a fantastic ratio. Romero may be a bit older at 33 but will provide some fantastic experience and definitely, it’s competition for Jordan Pickford.

Spanish paper Marca recently reported that Everton made a bid for Valencia keeper Jasper Cillessen. The Dutch international is a great expense to Valencia and are keen to get him off the books. However, they are not letting him go easily with Everton’s latest offer rejected.

The sum they are after is in the region of €35 million, this may come down nearer the deadline day if they panic and also Marcel Brands could work his magic with the fellow Dutchman and convince Valencia to lower their asking price.

Lastly, a little closer to home, is Portuguese and Everton goalkeeper Joao Virginia. He’s recently signed a brand new four-year contract with the Toffees after playing a pivotal part in their Under-23’s Premier League 2 title win. In 12 appearances he has 9 clean sheets.

He also started against Salford in last weeks EFL 2-0 win, claiming another clean sheet. Virginia is showing a lot of progress and I think he will cause some real pressure for Jordan Pickford, potentially starting some Premier League games very soon.

There are still a couple of weeks left in the transfer window for big purchases. A new keeper is definitely on the cards as Jordan Pickford needs to step up his game otherwise he will be dropped sooner rather than later.