Everton paid £30m for Jordan Pickford’s signature during the summer of 2017.
Jordan Pickford had just come off the back of an impressive season at Sunderland and earned a mega-money move to Goodison Park.
He became Everton’s record buy and fast forward eight years, it’s fair to say it was money well spent by then sporting director Steve Walsh.
Pickford has established himself as England’s number one during his impressive stint on Merseyside, having been the starter at the last four major tournaments.
Chris Sutton believes Pickford’s better than Ederson and perhaps only behind Allison as the best shot-stopper in the Premier League.
But, former Everton goalkeeper Neville Southall shares a different opinion.
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Neville Southall says Jordan Pickford is ‘average’
Southall played over 700 games for Everton, so clearly, he knows a thing or two about goalkeeping.
And, that makes his latest comment all the more baffling, as he labelled Pickford as ‘average’ when discussing the standard of modern goalkeepers.
“The lad at Manchester City is all right, the lad at Liverpool is okay,” Southall explained.
“Ours is average… he does okay. He’s average. If I’d have played like that, I’d be out the team for Howard.”
Southall recently questioned whether Moyes is the right man for Everton in the long-term, so he’s not been mincing his words lately.
Pickford has kept Everton up in recent years
Everton have been through really hard times over the last few years as they’ve dealt with PSR restrictions, which have led to multiple relegation battles.
Quite frankly, without Pickford, the Toffees could well be plying their trade outside of the Premier League for the first time in their history.
The 2022/23 season saw the England number one really earn his stripes, as he became a perennial point-saver to help keep Everton up on the final day with a 1-0 win against Bournemouth.
Many supporters would argue that Pickford is among the top three best goalkeepers in the club’s history, with Southall and Gordon West just ahead.
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