talkSPORT pundit tells Everton what to pay Jordan Pickford as club enter contract talks
Everton should pay Jordan Pickford money “commensurate with his position” as England number one, according to Simon Jordan on talkSPORT.
The Toffees are in contract talks with the 28-year-old over a new deal after he played a leading role in keeping them in the Premier League in the 2021/22 season.
They have just agreed the sale of the other primary hero of the escape from relegation as Richarlison is headed for Tottenham, and while former Crystal Palace chairman Jordan doesn’t think the keeper should get whatever he wants, his importance means he deserves to be compensated well.
In a clip posted to the talkSPORT YouTube channel on Thursday (30 June) host Jim White asked: “Contract talks being opened with Jordan Pickford and Everton, England’s number one. I wonder how that’s going to work out Simon. Will he be respected in those contract talks as England goalkeeper and be paid as such?”
Jordan responded: “It depends what respect means. If respect means to Jordan Pickford that he gets precisely what he wants or he’s off, that’s not respect.
“He had a really good season last year, and at the back end of the season he was one of the vanguards of the reasons why they pulled themselves out of trouble.
“He’s been given lots of criticism previously. He’s been told he’s a hot-headed individual who needs to be more focused on certain aspects of his game than others, but last year it’s undeniable.
“So as England’s goalkeeper he should be paid, if he’s the best in England and available to Everton to sign a new contract, he should be remunerated to a level commensurate with his position, which is the number one goalkeeper in the national side.
“But that doesn’t mean he gets precisely what he wants.”
Vital
Pickford does indeed come in for his fair share of criticism, some fair and some not, but there was no doubt that with some of his performances late in the relegation battle, particularly against Chelsea and Leicester, he kept them up.
Having just lost Richarlison it is arguably even more important to avoid losing any other key elements of this side.
Asmir Begovic is a solid back-up but Frank Lampard will feel a lot happier knowing the former Sunderland man has the gloves on when he sends his team out.
There is no indication that there will be any ructions from the negotiations, and The Guardian reports that they are expected to “proceed smoothly”.
It should be a source of slight comfort that after selling their star forward the club are focused on keeping another prime asset around for the long haul.
The fanbase is hardly overjoyed with how things are being run at the moment, and they may have a new regime in charge before long, but it is at least good news that Pickford appears not to be going anywhere.