Everton are close to agreeing a £30million deal for Sunderland keeper Jordan Pickford, according to a report in the Telegraph.
The newspaper claim that over the past day negotiations have progressed between the Toffees and Sunderland, and that the Merseyside club are now confident that the 23-year-old will be making the move this summer.
The Telegraph has revealed that Sunderland already rejected a previous bid from Ronald Koeman for the Englishman, however the newly-relegated club have said that they are now close to reaching an agreement with Everton.
It is said that the deal could conclude with a £30million price tag once various add-ons and clauses have been calculated, and it’s a price that struggling Sunderland won’t be able to refuse.
The £30million feee would be Everton’s record transfer, after the club previously signed Romelu Lukaku from Chelsea for £28million.
Pickford has been linked with Everton since the end of the previous season, when his impressive talent wasn’t enough to stop his club from plummeting to the Championship when Sunderland ended their 2016/17 campaign at the bottom of the Premier League table.
The 23-year-old showed that he was a valuable asset throughout the season, but particularly shone during one of the Black Cats’ last games of the season against Hull City where Pickford displayed stunning blocks and stops which eventually resulted in the Tigers joining the north-east side in the relegation zone.
If Pickford makes the move it is said that he could be joined by Malaga forward Sandro Ramirez, and Ajax’s captain Davy Klaasan, as Koeman is looking to strengthen his squad ahead of the club’s 2017/18 Premier League campaign.