I want to get past De Gea as top No.1

JORDAN PICKFORD wants to emulate David De Gea – and become the best goalkeeper in the world. Everton star Pickford rates Manchester United’s Spanish international De Gea (right) as the world No.1. And, as he heads to the Emirates today, Pickford admits he’s working hard to get to that elevated level “I would say De Gea is probably the best in the world right now,” he said. “As a goalkeeper, you want to be the best, but you can only get better by playing games, making saves and putting in man-of-the-match performances. “After that last-minute save at Watford, Ben Foster said De Gea was the Lionel Messi of goalkeepers. Manuel Neuer is as well, but he’s been out injured, so I think it opened up for De Gea to get to that status. As a keeper, you want to reach that level, but I can only do that by knuckling down.”

Pickford admits it has been tough to come back after the World Cup and learn a different style of goalkeeping under new Everton boss Marco Silva, who has switched from man-to-man to zonal marking. And, after a solid year of football, rest days are as important as training. “It’s been a long year. My first game for Everton last year was in mid-july in the Europa League, so, from starting then through to the World Cup, it was a full year of football.

“You can’t switch off. It’s about where you put yourself mentally and when the gaffer gives you a day off or a couple of days off, that’s when you have to take advantage of some down time to recharge your batteries.

“The gaffer has a new regime for training as well, so I’ve had to adapt to that. It’s a lot harder than it was last year.

“It’s all about learning what he wants and trying to make sure you’re fresh for the game – but it’s all good.”