Everton’s head coach, Sean Dyche is eyeing an audacious move for Newcastle United’s shot-stopper, Nick Pope amid Jordan Pickford’s dwindling form this season, according to the Mirror.
The Toffees sit rock bottom in the Premier League table after four successive losses. More worrying for the Merseyside club is their shambolic defensive record where their 13 conceded goals are the highest by any team this season.
Citing the Sun, the Mirror claims that Dyche is considering ditching Pickford from the starting lineup before making a possible swoop to sign Pope in the winter transfer window.
The report also adds that Newcastle could be open to the 32-year-old’s departure amid their admiration for Burnley’s goalkeeper, James Trafford— who they had a £16m offer rejected in the summer.
Dropping Pickford from the starting lineup would be a massive decision from the Toffees Boss — who is considering handing a League debut to second-choice goalkeeper Joao Virginia, if he impresses in the EFL CUP clash against Southampton, as per the report.
Pope has only conceded three goals in all four League matches for the Magpies this season, and his €16m (£13m) valuation by Transfermarkt is undoubtedly a fair price for a goalkeeper of his qualities.
Dyche set to ditch Pickford
Pickford has been a faithful servant to the Toffees since making the switch from Sunderland in 2017.
Despite Everton’s lukewarm campaign last season, only Arsenal’s David Raya kept more clean sheets than the England international.
However, his incessant errors have led the Toffees to concede some avoidable goals and he has already made an error leading to goal this season.
It appears Dyche has grown impatient with the England international and has now earmarked Pope to become his preferred first choice.
Pope is less error-prone and consistently drops a high-level performance to help Newcastle pick up important points, so it’s easy to see why Dyche is keen.
However, whether they’ll be able to agree a deal with Newcastle, or convince Pope to make a switch to Goodison Park, remains to be seen.
