Madrid giants want to sign Everton player, fee touted at £39m - report
By Richard Parks
Atletico Madrid are plotting a summer swoop for Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford, according to a report.
Spanish football publication Don Balon claim that the Spanish club's manager Diego Simeone is keen for the club to sign another goalkeeper if current first-choice Jan Oblak joins Paris Saint-Germain in the summer.
It is said that the Atletico manager is a big admirer of Pickford and believes that he would be great competition for current number two Axel Werner at the club.
Don Balon report that the La Liga big hitters, who are currently second in the table, could prise the former Sunderland keeper from Goodison Park for a fee of around £39.2million.
Football Insider verdict:
Signed for £30million last summer, Pickford has comfortably been the best and most consistent of the big-money arrivals at Everton in the last two windows. Some might sniff 'that is not saying much', but the keeper has acquitted himself superbly and made the step up to a top-table Premier League club look an easy one. Everton should certainly fend off all interest in Pickford. He can be a key man in their team for many years to come, and it would be very difficult to replace him with someone of equal calibre.
In other Everton transfer news, the club want to sign a 6ft 5in ace who had Sane & Silva in his back pocket, £7.5million will seal the deal.