Everton manager Marco Silva is confident England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford has learned his lesson after allegedly being caught up in a disturbance in a bar in Sunderland.
The past five months have not been kind to the 25-year-old, who began the season on a high after helping the national team to a World Cup semi-final.
His mistake led to a 96th-minute defeat in the Merseyside derby in December, after which the team’s results took a nosedive with just three wins in 14 Premier League matches.
An incident involving Jordan Pickford is under investigation by Everton and Northumbria Police (Daniel Hambury/PA)
He was castigated for an error in March’s defeat at Newcastle, during which he was seen reacting to taunts from home fans, and a video circulated online this week allegedly shows the Everton player at the centre of a street brawl. Northumbria Police and the Goodison Park club are investigating the incident.
“The first chat we had at the beginning of the week, I was clear with him. In that moment, the feedback he gave me was big to learn what had happened,” said Silva.
“If you ask me as a manager, and for us as a club, we are not happy with what has happened.
Marco Silva says Jordan Pickford has learned his lesson (Martin Rickett/PA)
“Football players have duties but obligations as well. It is clear to them what the obligations of a football player are.
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“It is a matter for us to remind him and everything we must do we already did.
“I think it is clear in his mind about his obligations as a football player, the position he has in our club and his national team.
“When you become a football player you have to be aware of these situations and he knows.
“It is already done, happened, and it is a big one not to happen again. It is my expectation it won’t happen again with Jordan for sure.”
Pickford will start in goal for Sunday’s visit of Arsenal and Silva said the disruption had not affected preparations.
“No problem. Something happened, no-one is happy with the situation. It happened on his day off, it was not a good thing,” he added.
“It is something not to do as a football player but we spoke about the matter and it is finished in this moment. Full focus during the week is to prepare for our next match.”
⭐ | The boss has been nominated for the @PremierLeague Manager of the Month award for March! 👌— Everton (@Everton) April 5, 2019
Silva laughed off reports in Brazil that Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp had met with Richarlison’s agent Renato Velasco recently.
“I have to smile, there is nothing more I can do. For us this speculation is not important to talk about,” said the Toffees boss.
“It is not important to talk about this situation, only smile.
“Richarlison is our player, all of us are happy with him and he is really happy here and he has many things to keep proving at our club.
“I am 100 per cent sure he will do that in the next few seasons. He’s a really important player for us.
“I was 100 per cent he could help us and fit well in our club, and because of that I asked our club to do everything we could to sign him.
“Of course I’m happy, he is happy. My job is to keep working with him to keep developing him. I don’t have doubts he can keep improving his performance.”
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