Opinion: Everton have golden chance to sign world-class talent for free; Ancelotti was keen in 2020

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Jordan Pickford saved Everton more points than he lost them during a fine run of form in the spring.

But with those high-profile, butter-fingered blunders still fresh in the mind, it will take a lot more than a handful of eye-catching displays to earn the England number one the full trust of the Goodison Park faithful.

If Everton are serious about shattering the glass ceiling and reaching the promised land of the Champions League for the first time since the days of David Moyes, Duncan Ferguson and Tim Cahill, some difficult decisions need to be made.

And dumping the erratic Pickford for a truly elite-level shot-stopper would represent precisely the sort of ruthlessness that could drag Everton from mid-table mediocrity into what many view as their rightful place in the top six.

Pickford out, Donnarumma in for Everton?

This time last year, Gazzetta dello Sport reported Everton were showing an interest in AC Milan’s Gianluigi Donnarumma, a potentially generation-defining goalkeeper who became the Rossoneri’s number one at the age of 16 and never looked back.

Carlo Ancelotti even described Donnarumma, with more than 250 appearances to his name already, as heir apparent to the legendary Gigi Buffon.

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In March 2020, when Everton’s interest emerged, AC Milan were demanding a cool £23 million.

Flash forward to May 2021 and, with Donnarumma’s contract expiring, an acrimonious exit from his boyhood club opens a golden opportunity for any club on the lookout for an elite-level shot-stopper.

Milan man has vast potential

With Thibaut Courtois standing tall between the sticks at Real Madrid, Marc-Andre ter Stegen at Barcelona, Alisson at Liverpool, Ederson at Manchester City and Keylor Navas at PSG, the market for Donnarumma is far smaller than you’d think for a man of his vast potential.

Everton, then, should be smelling an opportunity to pull off the kind of statement signing that would make the rest of the Premier League start to take them seriously.