'We've just got that that bond' - Pickford on Everton loyalty
· Yahoo Sports
A few months before Jordan Pickford made his England debut in 2017, he joined Everton from Sunderland for an initial £25m.
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Later that summer, Wayne Rooney, who had left Everton in 2004 and won five Premier League titles and the Champions League during 13 years at Manchester United, returned to Goodison Park.
"There was a price tag on me when I was being bought - the most expensive British keeper - so there was that pressure," Pickford told his former team-mate on The Wayne Rooney Show. "I've always enjoyed the pressure and I knew I had to do something early to get the fans behind me.
"In your first game, we won 1-0 and you scored the header and I made a decent save in my first home Premier League game at Goodison, so I set myself off on a good stall."
Rooney was instantly impressed with Pickford's performances,
"At the time I thought, 'this could be Everton and England's number one goalkeeper for a long time'," he says.
Nine years later and Pickford is just that - and in October signed a new contract to keep him with the Toffees until 2029.
But since he joined, Everton have not finished higher than eighth in the Premier League and they are in danger of missing out on European football for an eighth successive season.
During the interview, Rooney asked Pickford about his decision to stay.
"I don't agree, but a lot of people say 'why haven't you moved on from Everton?'
"For you to be so loyal, to what you have been to the club, it's quite rare these days.
"With your ability, you can say: 'Well, do you want to go and play Champions League?' But you've stuck with Everton. Why is it?"
Pickford, who has been voted fans' Player of the Year in three of the past four years, says: "We've just got that that bond really... you know what it's like here, the people.
"The gaffer [David Moyes] calls it the 'People's Club'. The staff are brilliant and it's where we live and go to the games. We just love it, my family love it.
"We know Everton should be in the European spots, but we know how hard it's been over the last few years and a rollercoaster we've been on, but they've been nothing but good to me.
"They took a chance on me as a 22-year-old kid and, I've repaid them, and I just love being here. Goodison, great memories, and the new stadium, it is moving forward.
"When you came back, when I first signed, we were in the Europa League. So if we sustained that, those questions wouldn't happen: 'Why is England's number one at Everton?' But people don't realise how big a club Everton is.
"Everton's been too far away from silverware and we've not won anything for so long - that's what we need back."