To say it’s been a whirlwind 12 months for Jordan Pickford would be an understatement.The 23-year-old became Sunderland’s first-choice goalkeeper at the start of last season after Vito Mannone suffered a serious arm injury in training and went on to make 29 Premier League appearances for the Black Cats.Although his side were relegated to the Championship following a dismal 2016-17 campaign, Pickford earned plaudits from fans and pundits alike thanks to his excellent performances.He was the one shining light in an otherwise disastrous season for the north-east outfit, whose tally of 24 points from 38 matches would have been even worse without their young ‘keeper.His performances were so impressive that Everton made him their most expensive signing last week.The Toffees have paid out an initial £25 million for the shot-stopper, while an additional £5 million will be paid to Sunderland in the form of add-ons if various clauses are triggered over the coming months and years.If you’d told Pickford this time last year that he would now be the most expensive British goalkeeper of all time, even he would have laughed.But that’s the reality of the situation.

Pickford could win the U21 European Championships

To complete a magnificent first-half of 2017, Pickford could finish the summer as an Under-21 European champion.

England’s U21s booked their place in the semi-finals following Thursday night’s 3-0 victory over Poland and will face Germany, Czech Republic, Portugal, Serbia or Macedonia in the last four next week.

Aidy Boothroyd’s side were impressive against Poland, securing a comfortable win thanks to goals from Demarai Gray, Jacob Murphy and Lewis Baker.

Watch: Pickford's incredible goal-kick v Poland

England’s first goal was magnificent and the move began thanks to a quite sublime goal-kick from Pickford.

Watch it here…

Perfect.

Reaction on Twitter

You don’t often see football fans lose their minds over a goal-kick, but that’s what happened in the seconds after England’s opener.

Check out the reaction….

We all knew Pickford was brilliant at saving shots, but we didn’t know his distribution with his feet was this good.

Perhaps Pep Guardiola could have saved himself a few million quid and signed the 23-year-old over Ederson.