Chelsea on alert as £60m-rated target drops massive hint over his future

England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford has suggested he will stay at Everton this summer despite emerging as a target for Chelsea. Maurizio Sarri has expressed interest in signing Pickford, 24, as Thibaut Courtois continues to be linked with a big-money move to Real Madrid. Courtois’ two children live in Madrid and he is keen to join the La Liga giants after spending three years in the Spanish capital with Atletico.

Chelsea have reportedly made Pickford their top target if Courtois does leave but Everton will be reluctant to sell a player who starred for England in this summer’s World Cup. And Pickford also seems unconcerned by the links to Chelsea, saying his focus is on firing Everton into the top six this season. ‘It is a quick turnaround but I am still fresh and raring to go,’ Pickford said.

‘I couldn’t go straight back into it so I had a little break and I will go back in on Friday and get cracking and see how I feel – maybe see if the gaffer will let me have a bit of game-time on Saturday. ‘I just love playing football. I’m a football lad. I will go in on Friday and the first thing I will do is ask for some game-time on Saturday, hopefully to get the chance to play against Wolves the following week. ‘I know myself that I will be more than ready so I can’t wait.’

Sam Allardyce has been replaced by Marco Silva at Goodison Park and the former Watford boss has enjoyed a productive transfer window, signing Richarlison and Lucas Digne for a combined £58million. Pickford, who was named Everton’s Player of the Season last year, is confident the new additions can help the Toffees improve during the 2018-19 campaign. ‘I think it is a massive club and the club is only going in the right direction,’ the star goalkeeper added.


‘We want to do better. We finished eighth last season and so we want to get better than seventh, get into the top six. ‘The Premier League is a hard league and it is hard to get a win in any game, but we want to please the fans and make the fans happy and the way to do that is win games.’