Everton have shifted their interest towards Kasper Schmeichel of Leicester City if reports are to be believed. The Toffees were chasing Sunderland shot-stopper Jordan Pickford but their £30m valuation seemed to have negated the interest. Everton are ready to pay £10m for the Black Cats keeper but that is not enough to land him.
Ronald Koeman has two goalkeepers at his disposal in Joel Robles and Maarten Stekelenburg but neither of them has managed to impress the Dutch manager. Both of them have been very error prone and their knack of conceding silly goals has not gone down well with Koeman.
Manchester City also have a similar kind of situation with both Claudio Bravo and Willy Caballero. Pep Guardiola’s idea of loaning Joe Hart to Torino has proved to be a gamble which did not paid off. Caballero and Bravo both had their equal share of chances for the Sky Blues but none of them was at their best as Pep had a harrowing time picking his preferred goalkeeper.
The Spaniard’s theory of deploying a ball playing keeper matches with the style of Schmeichel and he reportedly also takes an interest in the keeper, which could be a hindrance for Everton.
Everton’s budget of £30m for a keeper will match with Leicester City’s demand. The Foxes will want at least three times the money the Merseyside club were ready to pay for the services of Pickford. But investing that much of money behind the Leicester keeper could be a justifiable move given his ample Premier League experience.
The Dane remained the first choice keeper in their last Premier League winning season and this season also, barring few games, he has given a pretty good performance in between the sticks. Leicester are likely to offer better terms to Schmeichel, but it remains to be seen if he is interested in accepting a new deal.
The Foxes had a pretty awful start to their defense of the Premier League title as they flirted with relegation a number of times. But a change in the dugout and a late revival of form rescued their season. With no Champions League football in the offing, The Danish keeper might have a change of heart this summer.
He recently hired a new representative and things could start to fell apart pretty quickly. Koeman will be eyeing a Champions League spot next season and a strong keeper will be important for Everton to achieve their aims. The Foxes keeper is still one of the finest in the business and it looks like Everton are pretty close to enticing him to the Goodison Park.
