Jordan Pickford is set for talks with Everton’s manager, Marco Silva, and director of football, Marcel Brands, on Wednesday over his alleged involvement in a scuffle in Sunderland on Sunday.
Northumbria police are investigating an incident filmed outside a bar in the city that allegedly shows the England goalkeeper in the midst of a fracas. It is believed the 25-year-old reacted after his fiancee, Megan Davison, had been insulted and he was led away by friends. Pickford had laughed off taunts about his own form earlier in the evening in a different bar where he posed for photographs while flicking a V-sign at the man goading him.
Everton are also investigating the incident and club officials have reviewed the various footage. The club will await instruction from Silva and Brands following their talks with the player before deciding what internal action, if any, to take.
The Everton squad are not due back at their Finch Farm training base until Wednesday having been granted three days off after Saturday’s 2-0 win at West Ham. England’s No 1 keeper changed plans to watch Sunderland, his boyhood team, in the Checkatrade Trophy final at Wembley on Sunday to spend Mother’s Day with Davison and his family instead.
Pickford will be asked for his version of events by Silva and Brands before discovering whether the club’s inquiry is over. At the very least he will be reminded of his responsibilities as an Everton player in public and of being caught up in such situations given his higher-profile following last summer’s World Cup. The Everton manager is likely to take a dim view of any incident that does not reflect well on his player regardless of the circumstances involved.
Police inquiries are also continuing, though no arrests have been made. A statement issued by Northumbria police said: “At 12:19am on Monday 1 April police received a report of a disturbance involving a large group of individuals on Tunstall Road, Sunderland. Inquiries are ongoing to determine the circumstances surrounding the incident and locate those involved. Nobody is believed to have been seriously injured and no arrests have been made.”
