Tim Howard

[Toffee]

Tim Howard



The Manchester United goalkeeper will spend next season on loan at Goodison Park but was second choice to Kasey Keller in Germany as USA crashed out in the group stage.

He told the Liverpool Echo: "I'm looking forward to what this upcoming season's going to bring. I haven't been this excited in ages.

"I have that nervous energy like it's your freshman year in high school. New team-mates, having to prove yourself all over again. It's daunting but it's fun.

"I'm going to jump in feet first and I think inevitably, the way I am, I'm going to be all about Everton.

"Whatever shirt I put on I fight for my team-mates. It's not going to be any different.

"In loan deals with a call-back clause, sometimes it's a short deal so it's like you have one foot in the door and one foot out the door. For me, my focus is going to be on Everton 100 per cent.

"After that, no one knows what's going to happen so I'm not going to worry about that."

The USA international had a difficult season last term as understudy to Edwin van der Sar at Manchester United but is excited at the prosspect of regular football with the Blues - and proving his critics wrong.

"Some people just wrote me off, but that didn't really bother me because I always knew where I stood.

"Just because I wasn't playing doesn't mean I wasn't putting the work in to stay as sharp as I could be."

Meanwhile, former Everton striker Paul Hopkins is on trial at League One Bournemouth.