Journalist Paul Brown has claimed that Jordan Pickford would leave a 'huge gaping hole' in the Everton team if he were to leave.

The Lowdown: Premier League interest

As per Italian football journalist and transfer expert Fabrizio Romano, Chelsea are ‘monitoring’ the 28-year-old, alongside other goalkeepers, as they look to potentially move on from Edouard Mendy and Kepa Arrizabalaga.

The Telegraph have reported that Manchester United are also ‘monitoring’ the England international, who is currently at the World Cup in Qatar, where he has started all four games for his country so far and kept three consecutive clean sheets.

The Latest: Would leave 'huge' hole

Speaking to GiveMeSport, Brown has claimed that Pickford's exit from Everton would leave a 'huge gaping hole' at Goodison Park, and that the Merseyside club would need to replace him with a 'very high calibre' player.

The journalist said: “Selling Pickford will obviously leave a huge gaping hole where they don’t need one because they’re clearly looking for people in other areas, and they need to replace him with someone of a very high calibre.”

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The Verdict: Worrying

Losing Pickford would obviously be worrying for Frank Lampard's side, especially given that they may not be able to bring in a like-for-like replacement.

Everton have been flirting with Financial Fair Play (FFP) regulations this year, so they may need to use most of the cash to combat potential further heavy losses.

Also, given how close they are to the relegation zone, it is unlikely that a player of the same calibre as Pickford would be attracted to a move to the Toffees at this moment in time.

Nonetheless, they need to try and keep hold of him for as long as they can, and when the time does come to sell, they must ensure that they receive an appropriate transfer fee.