An update has emerged on Tottenham Hotspur and their interest in signing Jordan Pickford ahead of the January transfer window...

What's the talk?

According to The Daily Mail, Spurs are one of a number of Premier League clubs eyeing up a possible swoop to sign the England international.

The report claims that Manchester United and Chelsea are also in the market for a new shot-stopper and have identified the former Sunderland man as a target.

It is stated that the Everton board are hesitating over a new contract for the goalkeeper and that has led Tottenham, and their rivals, to think that they have a chance to sign him in the upcoming window.

His current deal is up at the end of next season and the report claims that Pickford had agreed to fresh terms and was expected to put pen to paper prior to the break for the 2022 World Cup break, only for the Toffees board to put the brakes on any potential extension.

Disaster signing

Antonio Conte must avoid a move to sign Pickford in January as it would be a disastrous signing for Tottenham.

He would not be an upgrade on number one Hugo Lloris or a suitable long-term successor as he has not proven himself to be a reliable, top-level, goalkeeper during his time at Goodison Park.

The 28-year-old, who joined his current club for a fee of up to £30m, is an erratic shot-stopper who has not done enough with the Toffees to suggest that he would be a useful signing for Spurs.

Speaking on Sky Sports in March of this year, former Premier League defender Stephen Warnock criticised the England international's style of play. He said:

"There's a way of telling people you've got to be tighter, you've got to be more organised. He is aggressive every time that he comes out, he's shouting at things.

"He's just so animated, that for me, every time I see him I think there's a mistake coming or he's out of control in what he's doing constantly."

Since the start of the 2017/18 campaign, Pickford has conceded 3.2 more goals than the average goalkeeper would be expected to concede from the post-shot xG of the efforts against him in the Premier League.

Essentially, he has let in a number of poor-quality shots that a goalkeeper in the English top flight is expected to be saving, which means that Everton have conceded more than their defending has warranted.

In the same period, Lloris has saved a whopping 17.6 goals that he was not expected to prevent and this shows that he has consistently bailed out the Spurs defence, whereas the Toffees man has let his side down as a whole over the last five years.

Therefore, Pickford, who was once dubbed a "liability" by pundit Jamie Smith, would be a disaster of a signing as his statistics indicate that he is a below-average shot-stopper and the questions over his stability between the sticks do not indicate that he would be a reliable goalkeeper for Conte.