The latest on Everton’s pursuit of Juventus ‘keeper Neto – but do they really need him?

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With Maarten Stekelenburg excelling between the sticks, the goalkeeping department looks rather strong for Everton at the moment.

Everton appear increasingly unlikely to sign Juventus goalkeeper Norberto Neto, with the print edition of La Gazzetta dello Sport reporting that the Serie A champions are preparing for the retirement of Gianluigi Buffon.

After Tim Howard brought an end to his long association with the Merseyside club last season, Everton were expected to invest heavily to strengthen their shot-stopping ranks in the off season, particularly with new majority shareholder Farhad Moshiri offering the club funds far beyond the means of previous chairman Bill Kenwright.

However, despite links with the likes of Asmir Begovic and Joe Hart (below), it came as something of a shock when Ronald Koeman recruited only Maarten Stekelenburg from Fulham after two seasons gathering splinters rather than shots on the benches of Monaco and Southampton.

Consequently, Everton have been heavily rumoured to have taken an interest in Juventus ‘keeper Neto, who earned the ‘Old Lady’s’ attention last summer after building a handsome reputation between the sticks at Fiorentina.

The evergreen brilliance of Buffon has restricted to the Brazilian to just three Serie A starts for the Bianconeri however, leading Calciomercato to report that Everton were ready to swoop with a £10 million bid.

That now appears wide of the mark, however, with Gazzetta Dello Sport clarifying that Juventus are determined to keep Neto in order to ready themselves for the retirement of the 38-year-old, albeit seemingly ageless, Buffon, as reported by Football Italia.

Then again, Everton are unlikely to be too concerned about these latest developments with Stekelenburg offering a timely reminder as to why he started the 2010 World Cup final for Holland and was heavily reported to be headlining Manchester United’s shopping list after the retirement of Edwin Van Der Sar.

Koeman, who gave the 34-year-old his professional debut at Ajax, remarked that Stekelenburg had “the game of his life” against Manchester City on Saturday, according to the BBC, after he made a string of fine saves, including two penalty stops from Kevin De Bruyne (below) and Sergio Aguero.