With the transfer window closing in, Arsenal face competition to capture the signature of Sunderland goalkeeper, Jordan Pickford, according to a reliable source.

• Pickford is a Sunderland youth product, joining them when he was 8
• 23-year-old has 3 cleansheets in 21 appearances
• He is under contract until 2020

With Manchester City and Everton also interested in signing the young star, it is believed that Arsenal have stepped in and have a “high chance” of completing a move in the summer according to ‘transfer expert,’ Dean Jones in his column based on Arsenal sources.

With Pickford’s impressive performance at Vicarage Road on Saturday, any Arsenal scout attending that game surely saw something they liked. Despite a great display between the sticks, however, Pickford was unable to prevent the only goal of the game.

With David Ospina seemingly on the way to Istanbul to join Fenerbahce, Arsenal will need to act quickly as the club’s goalkeeper list gets ready to shrink this summer.

Looking at Guardiola’s City, neither Bravo nor Caballero suit Pep’s style, and a move for a new man between the posts looks inevitable. As for Everton, neither of their first team options for the position seem consistent enough and they will surely do some business this summer.

According to transfermarkt.de Pickford is valued at £4.3m, and with three years on his contract, a substantial bid would have to be made in order to lure him away.

[otw_shortcode_info_box border_type=”bordered” border_color_class=”otw-red-border” border_style=”bordered” shadow=”shadow-down-right” rounded_corners=”rounded-10″ background_pattern=”otw-pattern-2″]When comparing Pickford with Cech, it’s notable that the Sunderland man has made 83 saves while conceding 34 during 21 games played.
Cech has made 64 saves during 27 games, conceding 32 in the process.
With a difference in quality between Arsenal and Sunderland and the amount of saves per goal (2.44 to 2.06), Pickford should be seen as a very good alternative, if not a full-time replacement, for Cech.[/otw_shortcode_info_box]