Everton sign goalkeeper Tom King from Wolves | OneFootball

Everton have signed goalkeeper Tom King from Wolves to provide additional experienced cover for Jordan Pickford, after having lost both Jao Virginia and Asmir Begovic in the summer.

The 30-year-old goalkeeper has done the rounds of lower-league clubs as he built his career at Millwall, Newport County, Salford City, and Northampton Town before spending the past two seasons at Wolves where he made his Premier League debut last May against Brentford, his only game in the top flight.

While at Milwall for 5 seasons, he was loaned out to Welling United, Braintree Town, Stevenage and Wimbledon. He racked up the most appearances for Salford City. In 64 matches between 2021 and 2023, he kept 26 clean sheets for the Manchester-based outfit.

King becomes the seventh signing of the summer for the Toffees, who had earlier brought in Mark Travers from Bournemouth to provide competition to Jordan Pickford in goal. This could mean that the future for Harry Tyrer will be away from Everton, either through loan or transfer.

Reader Comments (37)

Transfer Market have Tom King valued at £200,000. That's 2 thirds of Jack's weekly wage.

He is 30, has 1 Welsh Cap and stands at 1.94m. He's played for 9 teams, not counting spells as a youth player with Man Utd and Crystal Palace. He's made 1 Premier League appearance and his most appearances were for Salford - 64 games.

He has played more games in League Two, than any other division / competition - 123 games. In total he has played 222 games. He is very much a 3rd choice keeper. No doubt this will mean Harry Tyrer either being sold or loaned out.

Mike Gaynes 4 Posted 15/08/2025 at 18:31:31

Colin, we don't need three keepers?

Simon, two major signings in 7 days (and one minor one) is how you define "things grind to a halt"??? I think you've locked up Odd Post Of The Day and it's only dinnertime.

Gareth Price 5 Posted 15/08/2025 at 18:32:32

Good to see the recruitment team have a grasp of the issues in the first XI…

Martin Farrington 6 Posted 15/08/2025 at 18:33:32

Well said everyone.

We have bought a goalie, why do we need yet another??? Our academy keepers (U21) must be really disheartened. We have at least 3 of them. There was one called Pickford (no relation), I don't know what happened to him.

Typical Everton. Don't fill the desperately needed positions. But waste money on places we just don't need. And if I am correct, there is an exemption in the rules for keepers. So if Pickford gets a long-term injury, the club are allowed to go loan one on top of the squad they have.

Bloody pay for Dibling and some defenders at right- and left-back. Muppets!

Colin Glassar 7 Posted 15/08/2025 at 18:37:49

Mike,

We probably do need 3 goalies (1 to sit on the bench) but we are screaming out for a right-back and a right-winger.

Many of us are frustrated because this has been a problem for years now and is not, apparently, being solved.

We should've kept Begovic.

Mike Gaynes 8 Posted 15/08/2025 at 18:52:38

Colin, I'm sure those two problems are being worked on, and remember, it hasn't been a years-long problem for this recruitment team -- they just started.

As for Begovic, apparently Moyes shares my opinion of him... not good enough to count on. I used to call him Bungles Begovic, although I will readily concede he has done well with us.

Martin, George Pickford is only 17, so I don't think he's had time to get disappointed. And as for Jordan's possible heir apparent, do you think Tyrer would rather have a loan back to League One, where he played 38 superb games last season, or sit on the bench and watch Pickford?

As Jack says, King's signing is Tyrer's ticket to a full season of action -- which a young keeper desperately needs.

Ian Pilkington 11 Posted 15/08/2025 at 19:52:16

What a complete waste of money.

Tyrer looked competent in the friendly at Accrington; if he returns on loan to Blackpool, I'm fairly sure that he could be recalled if there was an injury crisis.

I still don't understand why Virginia was released.

Liam Mogan 13 Posted 15/08/2025 at 21:25:59

Good bit of business this.

Now we can have 2 keepers on the bench every week again

Dave Abrahams 15 Posted 15/08/2025 at 22:15:10

How much did they pay for him? Hard to understand another keeper coming in don’t they trust Travers ?

Dennis Stevens 16 Posted 15/08/2025 at 22:17:32

I presume Tyrer will go back out on loan

Neil Lawson 17 Posted 15/08/2025 at 22:43:08

3rd keeper for a PL team has to be about the best job in the world. You turn up to training, go home at lunchtime and watch Escape to the County and Pointless, you never actually play but you probably get paid 5k a week or more. Seriously tough life but Tom King has to do it. Hope he copes.

Craig Scott 18 Posted 15/08/2025 at 23:03:29

This guy and Travers will be included by Moyes and the recruitment team as delivering on the 5 or 6 more replacements they promised to get.

I think there were three or four new caterers brought in at Finch farm as well that might also be included in the numbers.

Sean Kearns 19 Posted 15/08/2025 at 23:08:26

Moyes seen enough of Travers in a couple of games to say HELL NO!! 😂 me too though. He punched the ball into his own head for the west ham goal ffs. He looked awful and the Bournmouth fans used to say the same thing. Can King be number 2 please? And I’ve never even seen him play.

Josh Horne 20 Posted 15/08/2025 at 23:12:26

Wow, not exactly the red carpet treatment for this lad.

Welcome to this great club Tom.

Mike Gaynes 21 Posted 15/08/2025 at 23:25:23

Finally, a decent beard in the squad to replace Andre Gomes.

Kieran Kinsella 22 Posted 15/08/2025 at 23:27:24

The big one we’ve been waiting for. About time. Welcome Mr King COYB

Paul Kossoff 23 Posted 15/08/2025 at 23:39:43

We have lost a big part of our first team from last season, have we improved the squad from the players brought in to replace them?

Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Abdoulaye Doucoure, Ashley Young, Joao Virginia, Asmir Begovic, Mason Holgate and Neal Maupay, with loanees Jack Harrison, Jesper Lindstrøm, Orel Mangala and Armando Broja all left...

Do you think the squad is stronger or weaker now?

Scott Hamilton 24 Posted 15/08/2025 at 23:41:06

Welcome, Tom.

We really need you as that bench ain’t gonna warm itself.

Robert Tressell 25 Posted 16/08/2025 at 08:22:38

Tyrer will never be pushing Pickford. The eventual replacement for Pickford will be a similar profile player – an outstanding international goalkeeper.

Virginia left us to go home to Portugal.

Tyrer has hit a point now where he's probably best off leaving for a nominal fee and challenging himself to get back in the Premier League, like Broadhead and others have done.

Sam Hoare 26 Posted 16/08/2025 at 08:39:58

Really don’t understand the issues here. He will have cost next to nothing, his recruitment will in no way have affected the search for a RW and he will most likely never feature.

A 3rd choice GK basically never plays so it’s almost like having another coach or support staff. King by all accounts is a brilliant dressing room character to such a degree that Pereira got him to give the team talk before their win over Leicester in April. Sensible, unexciting addition.

What Chris #27 said...Glad I read that. Saved me a lot of typing.

So many of the posters on here think we are slacking because we haven't just gone out and bought a dream team. Isak, Eze etc. Get real people. We have a limited budget. This one cost us nowt and allows the younger guys to go and learn their trade.

Meanwhile, by the end of the transfer window, we will, hopefully, have found a right side we can afford, that won't result in points deductions and bankruptcy in 2 years time.

If, on the other hand, you all have £50m to give to the club to pay Southampton for a 19-year-old whose total contribution last season was less than Beto's, then I will apologise and let you go and spend your money for the common good.

King for a day, dethroned to have a bench warming career. Welcome to Everton.

I just find it odd that a 30-year-old doesn't want to play regular games. He'd rather take the money just to train. That's modern football, how sad. But for him, an easy life.

Fair play, I only wish I could have been so lucky to have been an Everton squad member.

As an ex-goalkeeper I feel as though I have an understanding of this type of signing better than most - there are a lot of posts on here slating the club for buying an experienced, older 3rd choice keeper but there are good reasons for this signing. And it IS the right thing to do in my view.

It has nothing to do with just coming for a payday.

The life of a goalkeeper can be a solitary one in more ways than one - not only is the position a solitary one by nature, but the life of a goalkeeper can often be quite solitary mentally as well.

There's a good reason they joke about 'keepers being a bit mad.

Older, 3rd choice 'keepers are not signed because they're likely to ever play for the first team, that's not their role at all. There could be a very rare occasion where say Pickford is injured, and then Travers also gets injured, so King might get a game - but that's obviously extremely unlikely. 3rd choice 'keepers are there to impart knowledge and experience on the goalkeeping group, and in particular younger players, whilst also being there in the unlikely event I've just described.

If you don't believe me, there's an article I'll post here which also explains similarly to what I've described. If you get bored (us goalkeepers are good at not getting bored, it's one of the reasons we became goalkeepers - along with way less running about) skip to near the bottom for the part about being an older, experienced 3rd choice 'keeper.

Honestly, some of the replies on TW are very knee-jerk and ill-informed. And I say this without malice.

Derek Knox 32 Posted 16/08/2025 at 10:33:35

His brother Wan, gave it a one thumb up appointment, other hand busy ! :-)

Alan J Thompson 33 Posted 16/08/2025 at 11:24:26

I don't know why Virginia didn't want to stay but I can't help thinking that instead of signing Travers we could have offered Virginia another 10 grand a week for 3 years and been 2.5M better off. And other than experience, is sending a keeper out on loan for a regular game in a lower League any better than signing lower League older keepers?

Dave Abrahams 34 Posted 16/08/2025 at 11:44:44

James (30), Thanks for that very interesting link, I think with some of those goalkeepers the main reason they took up the position of second or third goalkeeper is money, definitely with being third goalkeeper.

I mean our former goalie Wright being on Man. City’s books for four straight years without playing once, Liverpool had a good goalie who won two Eurpean Cup medals without playing hardly any games for them, he did mention though that the £1,000 a week he was on couldn’t be sniffed at, he went on to have a very good career with Middlesbrough and Fulham if I’m not mistaken, he came from the South End of Liverpool —Ward(?).

Phycological it might do them good— stop them from going completely round the bend but I think the wages have a lot to do with it especially when they are getting on a bit!

Robert Tressell 36 Posted 16/08/2025 at 14:45:39

We could have done that Alan but we’d have ended up saving a minute amount of money to keep a markedly inferior goalkeeper.

David Cooper 37 Posted 16/08/2025 at 16:41:16

Dare we question Davey Moyes? Achieved so much in a short space of time only a few months ago and now maybe facing an even bigger challenge of turning BMD into Goodison 2.0?

My reading of Moyes is that "It's my way or the highway and, if you don't like it, tough!" As we wait for Monday night, I'm not sure of what to expect, there are a few questions or decisions that might not quite work out:

1. Will we be more effective without Doucoure?2. Is Calvert-Lewin better than Beto, Barry and Chermiti and should we have kept him?3. Would Richarlison prove to have been a better bet than any of the 3 mentioned above.4. Is Grealish a gamble?5. Is Branthwaite going to be troubled throughout the season with muscle injuries?

Five is enough to be starting with but there are several others that are just as pressing. COYB in HD at BMD!