Everton have bolstered their goalkeeping ranks by signing England Under-21 international Sandy MacIver on an 18-month deal.
 
A former Academy player with the Blues, MacIver rejoins the Club having spent three seasons with Clemson Tigers in the USA.
 
The 21-year-old, who also had a one-season stint with Manchester City before starting a scholarship with Clemson, was handed a first senior England call up by Lionesses manager Phil Neville in August 2019 for friendlies against Belgium and Norway.
 
The previous summer she was part of the England squad that finished third at the Under-20 World Cup in France and scooped the Golden Glove as the tournament's best goalkeeper.
 
Winsford-born MacIver, whose Everton deal runs until June 2021, will compete with former Academy teammate Kirstie Levell and Finland international Tinja-Riikka Korpela for a place in Willie Kirk’s side.



"It's a great feeling to join Everton again,” she told evertonfc.com. “My time here in the Academy was really good, I learnt a lot and now I'm really happy to be back.
 
"Everton really helped me develop as a goalkeeper and I'll always be grateful for that.

"I think I've really matured both on and off the pitch during my time away and I think the ambition of this club is clear from where we are in the table heading into the second half of the season and the competition from the young players pushing up and the experienced players, too.
 
"I think we've got to push for Champions League qualification and I think we can compete with the likes of Chelsea and Arsenal. With the direction that the Club is going, we have got the potential to be in and around that category of teams.
 
"It's a great group of players and it's really going to help the team push on."
 
MacIver's scholarship saw her spend three seasons with Clemson and establish herself as the university’s first-choice starter.
 
She first began talks with Kirk about a return to Everton last summer, with the youngster keen to continue her development in the Women's Super League.
 
"I got in contact with Willie and just tried to plant some seeds before I went back to America for my last season,” she said.
 
"Now, coming back and being able to sign, it's a bit of a no-brainer really.
 
"Whilst I was in America, I was really keen to see how we got on this season, especially with it being Willie's first full season in charge.
 
"It was great to see that the Club is doing really well so, on the back of that, it turned out to be a really great decision for me to come to this club."