The Man City and Everton swap deal to replace treble winner Guardiola has doubts about: opinion

Manchester City’s recruitment has gone smoothly since the transfer window opened with Pep Guardiola starting another rebuild to take his team back to the top of the Premier League table.

There are still one or two areas that need to be addressed with question marks after the Club World Cup about the future of Ederson in goals. The assured performances that were once almost unnoticeable given their consistency are almost a rarity as the Brazilian struggles to replicate his best form.

City will always be a club that other teams in the league target for players and there could be a way of strengthening between the sticks without splashing out whilst letting a fringe player leave to find more regular game time. With PSR having an ever effective restraint on how clubs spend money, being creative with a swap deal could be the answer.

Swap deal Man City could do with Everton to make everyone happy

Everton are interested in taking James McAtee to the Hill Dickinson Stadium as David Moyes looks to rebuild a team that is looking for a fresh start both on and off the pitch. With new owners and a new home ground, the Toffees have a safe pair of hands to guide them into a new era.

In terms of a safe pair of hands, City’s keeping issues could be solved by signing one of the league’s best in Jordan Pickford, a player who has proven at international level that he should be playing at a level above relegation battles and mid-table obscurity. Seeing his name next to a series of England records proves that he is as good as they come.

McAtee is a promising talent, and despite fears of repeating what has happened with Cole Palmer, the England Under-21 international isn’t on the Chelsea playmakers level. He would improve Everton, but if Guardiola had the choice of having McAtee, who has already been replaced by Rayan Cherki, or Pickford in his squad, the England No.1 would surely be his choice.

What Pickford’s coach has said that makes him perfect for City

Pickford’s mentality has been questioned in the past, but the maturity that he displayed under Gareth Southgate puts those doubts to bed with Everton goalkeeping coach Alan Kelly knowing from the first moment he saw him that he was destined for the top, via The Liverpool Echo: “It was just the way that he handled himself”, Kelly says as he recalls the League One fixture when he noticed Pickford.

“The way he stood up to what occurred on the pitch. I thought yeah, that takes takes a bit of heart, it takes a bit of responsibility. And that's a thread I've seen right all the way through, him accepting responsibility and, with that, that allows him to perform.

“You acquire status. So now he’s England’s number one, he’s Everton’s number one, he’s got different areas he has to fulfil. I think as a young lad he just wanted to play and seeing his development, and seeing how he handled it, as a young professional with Preston, and seeing what he's now had to deal with, with social media, and I don't think I've known anybody get as much stick as he does, just to deal with that in itself has showed you he's well rounded.”