There has been a lot of chatter about Everton's desire to keep Jordan Pickford at the club for the next several seasons, with the hope being that the goalkeeper would finish out his career as a member of the club.
Pickford's current deal runs through 2026, when the England international will have just turned 33, which is not terribly old for a goalkeeper. But according to recent reporting from Patrick Boyland of The Athletic, Everton is eyeing a new deal that would extend his time with the Toffees until he's closer to 36 or 37.
Whether that would be the end of Pickford's career would remain to be seen, but for now, the thinking appears to be that the goalkeeper would be able to see out his career at Everton.
Since joining from Sunderland in 2017, Pickford has shown great growth as both a person and a player, earning England's no.1 position during the World Cup the following summer and having done little to lose the role, despite all the clamoring among the uneducated to see him replaced by other keepers.
While Pickford joined as an easily bothered, often unpredictable player (every trip to St.James' Park was a roller coaster ride in those early years), he's matured a great deal, even while maintaining some of his fun-loving attitudes on the pitch.
And that has allowed him to be one of the better goalkeepers in the Premier League, and a player who willed Everton to safety during those relegation scraps. He's also been wildly consistent, starting essentially every PL match Everton has played since his arrival, along with later cup matches.
Extending Pickford is a no-brainer given his consistency and talent, but the other trio that Boyland mentions do present some questions that need to be asked.
Other Players Out of Contract
James Tarkowski, James Garner, and Vitalii Mykolenko are the players in question, and each has pros and cons in terms of an extension.
For Tarkowski, he'll turn 33 in November, and while he's been a steady presence at the back during his Everton tenure, there's an easy case to be made that Jake O'Brien needs to be the long-term center back option next to Jarrad Branthwaite.
Tarkowski just isn't the same player next to someone other than Branthwaite, which could be a notch in Tark's favor, since you hope Branthwaite will be there, but his slow start to this season provides more questions. If he has an interest in being a depth role, the case could be made, but it's likely the best option is to allow him to walk and bring in younger depth pieces next summer.
Garner is the most obvious candidate for an extended deal, as he's only just turned 24 and provides some much-needed versatility. Maybe, if Tarkowski is allowed to leave, he could be looked at more seriously as a right back with O'Brien sliding into his more natural position, even if Garner is only a backup option.
Mykolenko is the player who brings the most pause. He isn't terribly young (he turned 26 at the end of May), but still likely has plenty of years left on his legs. But Everton did sign Adam Aznou this summer, and will probably be seeking a way to let the teenager naturally shift into the starting role. Mykolenko's recent injury plus Aznou's recovery from his may provide that sooner than expected.
The Ukrainian is a very defensive-minded left back, which certainly has its advantages, but also isn't the most modern way of thinking about fullbacks in football. The thinking all along may have been that Aznou would come in this season as Mykolenko's understudy, with the hope that the Morocco international would take over the role by the end of the year.
It would mean the club would need another left back in the summer, but it makes a lot of sense for that not to be Mykolenko, as they'd need someone more comfortable working as a backup to Aznou, not necessarily someone who'd expect to start every week.