Everton Gollini rumours continue
Everton are still continuingly being linked with a move for the Atalanta goalkeeper Pierluigi Gollini, as a potential back-up or rival for Jordan Pickford.
Pickford played his part in helping England get through to the Euro 2021 final last night although he had some wobbly moments, which we’ve seen when he’s been wearing an Everton shirt and seemed a little distracted at times by the pressure of the occasion.
Anyway, Pickford did also make an important save and has had a fine tournament overall, being perhaps the best goalkeeper in the competition alongside the man he will be playing against in Sunday’s final; Gianluca Donnaruma.
Pickford has been in outstanding form for the past few months and finished last season very strongly for the Toffees, saving the team some important points in the run-in.
This was quite a turnaround for the ex-Sunderland stopper who has had a chequered career at Goodison Park, since his expensive move from the Stadium of Light. In particualrly he had issues with concentration and making related, unforced errors.
Last season’s improvement seems to have been largly down to increased competition from the Blues deadline day loan signing Robin Olsen who came in and push Pickford hard for a starting place. The England number one also spent time with a psychologist and this also seems to have helped him overcome his problems and find much greater consistency.
Carlo Ancelotti apparently wanted to keep Olsen at the club and he seemed keen to stay, but the Swedish international and his family then suffered a horrible home invasion and that experience probably changed his mind about staying on Merseyside.
Then Ancelotti left and Olsen has returned to Roma so leaving Everton with only Pickford and young prospect Joao Virginia as their senior keepers going into next season.
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With Olsen gone it does seem important for the club to bring in another experienced goalkeeper to continue to push Pickford as Virginia is likely to be loaned out, despite impressing when he briefly came into the team late last season.
Rumours have swirled around about potential new recruits including a player that the Toffees were keen on last summer before signing Olsen, the then Manchester United keeper Sergio Romero.
Romero would be a great choice to support and push Pickford next season. He’s a quality keeper with a huge amount of club and international experience.
But the Blues are also being linked with the Atalanta shot-stopper Gollini.
The 26-year-old is a fine keeper and has been a key part of the Atalanta team that enjoyed such a good campaign last season and finished third in Serie A. But he’s now facing more competition at the Italian club so might be interested in a move away.
Gollini has the qualities needed for modern goalkeepers and is similar to Pickford with his passing ability in particular, but he’s a similar age to the England player and would presumably cost a considerble amount while Romero is available having left Old Trafford. So given all that it would seem the Argentine is much the better choice.