James Tarkowski has his eyes set on leading Everton to European football after putting pen to paper on a two-year contract extension with the club on Wednesday. 

Tarkowski joined Everton on a free transfer in July 2022 and has made 128 appearances in all competitions, scoring four times. He is also now the Toffees' vice-captain. 

Indeed, since arriving on Merseyside over three years ago, only Jordan Pickford (120) has appeared more times for Everton in the Premier League than Tarkowski (116). 

Since his Everton debut, Tarkowski has also won more aerial duels (398), made more headed clearances (395) and made more blocks (188) than any player in the top-flight. 

And having left it late against Crystal Palace to preserve their unbeaten start to life at Hill Dickinson Stadium, Tarkowski is aiming to push for European qualification. 

"It's been a crazy few years with some big lows and some massive highs," Tarkowski told Everton's club website. 

"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."

The last time Everton competed in Europe was in the 2017-18 season, when they were eliminated in the group stages of the Europa League. 

Tarkowski has started all seven of Everton's Premier League games this season, with David Moyes' team eighth in the standings with 11 points so far. 

Since Moyes' first game back in charge of Everton in January, only six teams have won more points in the Premier League than the Toffees (42).