Everton have broken their transfer record to sign Jordan Pickford from Sunderland for an initial £25m on a five-year contract. The deal makes the 23-year-old the third most expensive goalkeeper of all time and the fee could rise to £30m.
Pickford, who is with England at the European Under-21 championship in Poland, told Everton’s website: “It’s a great club, a massive club and I think it’s a great opportunity and the right time for me to come to Everton and show what I can do.”
Only Ederson, who this month joined Manchester City from Benfica, and Juventus's Gianluigi Buffon have moved as goalkeepers for higher fees.
Signing a goalkeeper always looked like being a top priority for Toffees boss Ronald Koeman this summer.
Fellow Dutchman Maarten Stekelenburg arrived last year, but neither he nor Joel Robles could nail down a regular spot between the posts as they made 19 Premier League starts each.
Everton were linked with Manchester City’s out-of-favour stopper Joe Hart when he was originally deemed surplus to requirements, and they seemed like one of his more obvious suitors again in this window.
However, Koeman has instead moved for the man who may be England’s number one further down the line.
Pickford was nominated for the PFA Young Player of the Year award despite featuring for a team that finished bottom of the top-flight table.
He earned a call-up to England’s senior ranks in October and has represented the country at each of the six youth levels from Under-16 upwards.
Born in nearby Washington, Pickford came through Sunderland’s academy system and had a series of loan deals with the likes of Preston, Bradford, and Carlisle prior to becoming his boyhood club’s number one last term.
Meanwhile, Leicester have signed defender Harry Maguire from Hull for an undisclosed fee.
The 24-year-old had a year remaining on his contract at Hull but following the club’s relegation from the Premier League he has joined the Foxes on a five-year deal.
Maguire becomes the club's first signing since Craig Shakespeare agreed a three-year deal as full-time Leicester boss last week.
A fee of around £17million has reportedly been agreed between the two clubs and Maguire will link up with his new team-mates in early July ahead of Leicester’s pre-season training camp in Austria.
He told LCFC TV: ”It’s obviously a very exciting time for myself. Once I had my eyes on this club I always wanted to join.
“Thankfully I’m here, so I can’t wait to get the season started and kick on.
”There were a number of clubs interested, but when I met the manager here he pretty much swayed it into the direction of this club. He showed me the way that the club is going. It’s on the up and it looks very promising for the future, so credit to the gaffer.
”You can see that with the structure of the club it’s going to look upwards rather than down, so that was a big reason why. As soon as I knew there was an interest, I wanted to jump at the opportunity.”
Leicester have been looking to bring in some cover in the centre of defence after injuries to captain Wes Morgan and Robert Huth last season exposed their lack of depth in that position.
Maguire was a stand-out performer for Hull during the 2016/17 campaign and was expected to leave the club following their relegation from the Premier League.
The 24-year-old joined the Tigers in the summer of 2014 from Sheffield United for a fee of £2.5m and the Blades will receive a windfall from Maguire’s sale after inserting a sell-on clause in the deal that took him to East Yorkshire.
Maguire spent time on loan at Wigan during his first year with Hull before helping the club win promotion from the Championship the year after.
