Sunderland manager David Moyes has conceded they could be powerless to keeping rising star Jordan Pickford if a big offer comes in for the goalkeeper in January.
Pickford, 22, has been outstanding for Sunderland this season after making the most of his opportunity following a long-term injury to previous No.1 Vito Mannone.
Moyes has already revealed he turned down the chance to sign Joe Hart from Manchester City in the summer after being impressed by Pickford’s talent, and now the Sunderland manager has hinted the youngster could be allowed to leave in January.
“I hope it won’t be too difficult to resist a January offer. But sometimes on the journey of building clubs up, these things happen,” The Daily Mail quote Moyes as saying.
“I can only tell the story from Everton because Wayne Rooney was the same. We got a big offer from Manchester United, we fought, I was saying we were not selling but, ultimately, the sale helped us do the right things after that and we needed it.
“While you are rebuilding, if you bring players in and they do really well, some of the big clubs want them - that’s different. The difference is that Jordan is one of our home-grown players and we certainly wouldn’t be in a hurry to do it.
“But if he keeps performing at the level he is, I’m sure he’s going to draw attention from big clubs. I don’t want it to sound as if we want to sell Jordan. Far from it. It’s the complete opposite. I want to build a team and I want to build a young, new team. But there will be building blocks that have to be taken out to put other ones as we go along.”
Pickford’s form in a struggling Sunderland side has even forced his way into the reckoning with the England senior squad, after being called up to Gareth Southgate’s most recent squad after Fraser Forster pulled out with injury.
No goalkeeper has gained a higher WhoScored.com rating in the Premier League this season (7.06), while only his England teammate, Tom Heaton (62), has made more saves (Pickford - 47).
For more stats on Jordan Pickford, click here to visit his WhoScored player page
