This summer will be a huge one for Everton and Carlo Ancelotti.
If the Italian really does have a desire of getting the Toffees in the Champions League, they’ll need to spend wisely.
On the chalkboard
One area that should be strengthened in the upcoming window is between the sticks.
Everton have England’s number one, Jordan Pickford, in their ranks but he’s proven again this term that he cannot be relied upon over a whole campaign.
Pickford’s distribution is top class and he has fantastic agility but he still makes far too many mistakes.
In 176 Premier League appearances, the stopper has made 15 individual errors directly leading to a goal. Seven of those errors have come in the last two seasons alone which make him the most error-prone ‘keeper in the top-flight over that time frame.
He equalled the record with Martin Dubravka back in October when he battled Brighton striker Neal Maupay for the ball but lost out.
He made another high profile mistake against Leicester in January. He failed to save Youri Tielemans’ effort towards goal despite the attempt having just a 2% chance of going in according to the xG metric.
Replacement needed
Pickford’s errors have become harder to ignore as time goes by. To put it simply, if Ancelotti does want to take Everton to the next level they need someone more reliable between the sticks.
Fortunately, it would appear that Marcel Brands and co are doing the groundwork to provide him with some better competition.
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One player the club have been linked with is Barcelona goalkeeper Neto.
He’s currently the second choice at Camp Nou despite costing £31m but he has caught the eye of numerous Premier League sides, including Arsenal.
Barca boss Ronald Koeman ruled out a move for the Brazilian in January, hailing the £55k-per-week earner as “important.” However, his future with the Catalan giants is in doubt again after a season where he played just 12 times.
Standing at 6 foot 3, Neto is taller than Pickford by two inches which make for a promising start.
Playing for the club he does, he is evidently capable of playing out from the back. In fact, his distribution is even better than Everton’s current first choice.
Neto has completed 85% of his passes this term compared to Pickford’s meagre tally of 62.5%.
Crucial in improving on their current option, however, is their respective save percentages.
The England international has only saved 68.8% of shots he’s faced this season while Neto has a mightily impressive 81% success rate.
With that in mind, this certainly wouldn’t be a bad acquisition from the hierarchy at Everton.