Former Everton boss Ronald Koeman believes that Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford’s progress has been ”tremendous”.
Pickford has undergone a massive rise over the last two years and has gone from being regarded as a promising youngster to being regarded as one of the best goalkeepers in England.
After being one of the bright sparks in the Sunderland team that were relegated from the Premier League during the 2016/17 season, Pickford earned himself a move to Everton.
The £25 million fee which the Toffees who were then managed by Koeman forked out made him the most expensive English goalkeeper in history.
After some promising displays for Everton last season, Gareth Southgate opted to select Pickford as his first-choice World Cup goalkeeper for England ahead of Nick Pope and the experienced Jack Butland.
Many questioned whether this was the correct decision due to Pickford’s lack of international experience, however the young keeper has so far exceeded expectations and starred during England’s last-16 penalty shoot-out victory over Colombia.
The Daily Post report that Koeman said according to Dutch outlet De Telegraaf:
“Yes, Jordan is undergoing a tremendous development. That is also the reason why we paid so much money for him at Everton last year. We knew that the amount could reach €30m. I also give credit to Steve Walsh, who has been very convinced of his talent for a long time.”
“We stuck our neck out, because it remains a lot of money for such a young keeper, who was relegated with Sunderland. In the first period with me, I saw that he was impetuous but also that he had enormous qualities. We absolutely wanted a top keeper and he turned out to be one.
”In a short time he went ahead with leaps and bounds. Internally, we knew that he would be the goalkeeper of the national team within one year. Sometimes you have to be lucky.
This could all be good news for Everton fans. The experience that Pickford has had so far Russia would have been a good learning experience and it will benefit his future Everton performances.
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