{{primary_category}}
{{/primary_category}} 
Jordan Pickford will surely leave Everton if club are relegated after latest Gareth Southgate comments about England spot
Jordan Pickford may have signed a brand new four-year contract with Everton recently, but his future at the club is still as uncertain as it has ever been.
Links to Manchester United, Tottenham and Chelsea have all been constant since the World Cup break in November and December for the goalkeeper, who has maintained his spot as the England number one despite Everton’s poor league form over the course of the campaign.
But this Sunday could see the end of the club’s Premier League run, with a negative result against Bournemouth at Goodison Park potentially seeing them relegated if Leeds or Leicester can take advantage.
Pickford was once again named in the England squad for the upcoming June internationals against Malta and North Macedonia, but manager Gareth Southgate was asked if he would still be the number one choice in goal if the Toffees were relegated.
“That would depend on how well he was playing,” he said, as quoted by the Liverpool Echo.
“It wouldn’t be ideal because clearly the level of attacks, finishing, and speed of the game would be completely different, so I think it would be difficult, but let’s see what Sunday brings.”
Subscribe to Football Insider TV now
Reports have suggested that Pickford has a verbal agreement with Everton that would allow him to leave this summer amid relegation despite signing a new deal, and you’d have to think now that these comments from Southgate are the fuel he needed to push for that move if it happens.
Some fans have been hopeful that the new deal meant he would stick around and help the club go straight back up, knowing he is firmly Southgate’s number one pick for the national team.
But these new comments have thrown some doubt on that, and Pickford would surely put himself and his own career first in that instance.
No Everton fans would begrudge him, and by signing a new deal he has guaranteed that we will get a fair value to sell him too.
In an ideal world all of this is for nothing because we get a win against Bournemouth on Sunday and are still a Premier League club, so don’t need to consider an exit. But it’s not over until it’s over, and the club have to be aware this is a possibility.