Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford has confirmed that he will be remaining at Goodison Park for the 2023-24 campaign despite links with a move to one of the Big Six sides.
The England number one has played a pivotal role in keeping Everton afloat in the top flight for the past couple of seasons and remains Gareth Southgate's undisputed first choice for the Three Lions.
However, Pickford has naturally been linked with a departure from the Merseyside club amid their relegation scraps, especially with Euro 2024 on the horizon.
Both Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur have previously been credited with an interest in Pickford, but the 29-year-old committed his future to Everton until 2027 back in February.
With Man United and Spurs having since moved on to other goalkeeping targets, Pickford has affirmed that he will "definitely" remain on the books at Everton for the upcoming campaign.
When asked if he would be staying put on Merseyside, Pickford said: "Definitely. I've just signed a new contract and I'm happy and my family is happy so now we just want to move forward as a club," as quoted by The Athletic.
However, the former Sunderland man has affirmed that the Toffees only have themselves to blame for their predicament last term, and he would welcome the arrivals of new faces in a bid to steer Everton clear of the dotted line from 2023-24 onwards.
"We should never have been in that position. We lost a lot of games that we shouldn't have ever lost, or we had chances where we should have taken points from more games.
"It was our own fault that we ended up in that position. But it does show the type of characters we are to get out of that situation. We need to knuckle down and work hard on the training pitch.
"I think the manager would like (to make more signings) that. I'm not the manager, but I think we have a good squad.
"In the Premier League, you always want to get better and move forward and in the right direction. As a team, you always want to be stronger and if that means new signings to help us become better, then that is ideal."
Pickford has now represented Everton on 237 occasions since making the move from Sunderland in 2017, keeping 62 clean sheets, including eight shut-outs in the 2022-23 Premier League season.
Following the Englishman's renewal at Goodison Park, Tottenham turned their attention to Guglielmo Vicario, bringing the Italian to North London for approximately £17.2m from Empoli.
Vicario will likely be installed as Ange Postecoglou's number one straight away, as Hugo Lloris has been left out of Tottenham's Asia-Pacific tour squad as he explores a move away.
Meanwhile, Man United are rumoured to be closing in on the signing of Inter Milan's Andre Onana to replace David de Gea, who departed upon the expiration of his contract in June. body check tags ::
