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Has Virginia given Everton more keeper choice

By Matt Townsend

LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - MARCH 20: João Virgínia of Everton during the FA Cup Quarter Final match between Everton and Manchester City at Goodison Park on March 20, 2021 in Liverpool, England. Sporting stadiums around the UK remain under strict restrictions due to the Coronavirus Pandemic as Government social distancing laws prohibit fans inside venues resulting in games being played behind closed doors. (Photo by Chloe Knott - Danehouse/Getty Images)
LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - MARCH 20: João Virgínia of Everton during the FA Cup Quarter Final match between Everton and Manchester City at Goodison Park on March 20, 2021 in Liverpool, England. Sporting stadiums around the UK remain under strict restrictions due to the Coronavirus Pandemic as Government social distancing laws prohibit fans inside venues resulting in games being played behind closed doors. (Photo by Chloe Knott - Danehouse/Getty Images) /
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Although Everton eventually went down to a 2-0 FA Cup quarter-final defeat yesterday to Manchester City, there were some positives in the performances of several players especially young goalkeeper Joao Virginia.

The announcement before the match that both Jordan Pickford and Robin Olsen were unavailable would have been worrying for Everton supporters.

This meant that the Blues would be relying in this huge game on their inexperienced third-choice keeper Virginia who had only come on for Pickford in the defeat at Burnley.

The young Portuguese shot-stopper had an excellent match though. He pulled off a superb stop against Raheen Sterling and made another fine save from Aymeric Laporte’s effort although the ball then rebounded off the bar and was forced in by Ilkay Gundogan for City’s opening goal.

Virginia had become a little forgotten recently and after a less than successful loan spell at Reading it was unclear whether the player signed by Marco Silva still had a future at Everton.

The arrival of Olsen in the summer transfer window had raised further uncertainty about whether Virginia would be leaving Goodison Park.

Olsen has played sporadically and has generally done well and there were rumours that Carlo Ancelotti was keen to make his stay permanent.

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But now there are stories that the Swede might not want to turn his move to Merseyside into a long-term deal after he and his family suffered a horrific home invasion recently.

If Olsen does leave this summer then that would mean Everton will likely have to go into the transfer market again to find a senior keeper to back-up and push Pickford.

This isn’t ideal as the Blues boss has said the club won’t be spending big this summer and he has other more pressing transfer priorities, particularly right-back, central midfield and up front.

But now if the Portuguese goalkeeper can maintain this promising initial form while he’s filling in for the others, then it might create a new quandry and perhaps Ancelotti may feel he has a good number two available.

It’s too early obviously to be sure if he will be able to continue this fine start so I’m not getting ahead of myself just yet and he probably will go out on loan again next season although I’m not always sure that helps young players.

But if Virginia can keep playing as confidently and consistently as he has done so far, then that will prove a useful and unexpected bonus and may potentially save Everton from having to find themselves yet another goalkeeper in this summer’s window to push Pickford, if Olsen leaves.