What The Papers Say - 9 October

The views on this page are taken from the local and national media and do not necessarily reflect the views of Everton.

The Liverpool ECHO features quotes from James Tarkowski after his two-year contract extension was announced on Wednesday afternoon.

The Blues' vice-captain put pen to paper to keep him at the Club until June 2028 and was pleased to extend his stay at the Club after initially arriving from Burnley in the summer of 2022.

"I'm super excited and proud to be an Everton player and to continue this journey," Tarkowski told evertontv.

"It's been a crazy few years with some big lows and some massive highs. We've managed to get through those tough times and hopefully now we're on to more positive and exciting times ahead.

"It's always been an ambition of mine to play European football. I had a brief spell with Burnley in the qualifiers but we didn't make it to the group stages, so I want to get there.

"It's the manager's goal, it's our goal as a team and, so far, we've started pretty well. Of course, it could have been better but we've had a decent start and we're definitely striving to get into those European spots and bring European football to our new stadium."

Matthew Hobbs of BBC SPORT offers analysis of the decision to tie down the centre-back for another two seasons, describing Tarkowski as a "player of model consistency".

"Tarkowski's new Everton deal is just reward for a player of model consistency - both in terms of availability and performance," Hobbs writes.

"Prior to sustaining a hamstring injury that caused him to miss the final five games of last season, the centre-back had made 111 consecutive Premier League appearances without missing a match - the longest run of any outfield player during that period and the fourth-longest run by a non-goalkeeper in the competition's history.

"The 32-year-old has been a brilliant performer since joining the Toffees on a free transfer from Burnley in July 2022 and is someone who does arguably not get the same level of recognition as defenders at some of the more recently successful clubs - despite dominating most combative metrics since his move to Merseyside.

"Tarkowksi leads all Premier League outfield players since the start of 2022-23 for clearances, headed clearances, blocks and aerial duels won - ranking ahead of the likes of Arsenal's Gabriel and Liverpool's Virgil van Dijk in those metrics.

"While not being renowned for goals, Tarkowski has scored at least once in the past seven Premier League seasons - and he saved his 2024-25 contribution for something special, equalising in the 98th minute in the final men's Merseyside derby at Goodison Park.

Elsewhere on BBC Sport, Chris Bevan describes Jordan Pickford as England's "undisputed number one".

The Toffees' shot-stopper will break his own Three Lions record – currently jointly shared with the legendary Gordon Banks – of seven consecutive clean sheets if he wins his 79th cap against Wales and does not concede in Thursday night's friendly.

Former goalkeeper Paul Robinson said: "He has definitely improved his all-round play with his feet," Robinson explained. "Where Jordan has always been strong is with his long distribution and his ability to start a counter-attack - there are not many better than him at that in the Premier League.

"He can kick it accurately for absolutely miles in a similar way I used to do, and as a goalkeeper you enjoy that. The game has changed now, but he is still able to play out with shorter passes from the back too.

"You would do very well to find the perfect keeper anyhow but, when I analyse his overall game, I feel like Jordan understands his own qualities and he has grown and developed into the keeper we see now.

"He knows what he is good at and what he has maybe needed to work at, and he is still working at it now."