Lewis Gibson left Newcastle United to join Everton in the summer of 2017 for a hefty fee of £6million.
Everton certainly caused a stir when they signed Lewis Gibson from Newcastle United last year. After all, it is not often that a 17-year-old without a single senior appearance to his name swaps one Premier League club for another for a fee of £6 million, as reported by the Liverpool Echo.
But one year after rejecting a contract at St James’ Park in order to join the Toffees, where then-director of football Steve Walsh was scouring the market for young talent, it is tempting to wonder whether the move was the right one for the England youth international.
U23 coach David Unsworth is a big fan of the left-back, handing Gibson the captaincy on occasions and describing him to the Liverpool Echo as ‘outstanding’ and a ‘natural born leader’.
But making the step up to the senior squad could prove difficult. After all, Everton have just splashed out £18 million on a new first-choice left-back in Lucas Digne. And, while Leighton Baines is 33, he proved during an impressive end to last season that his wand of a left foot is still capable of conjuring up magic.
Baines’ contract expires next summer but the former England international seems happy to stay on Merseyside, having shown little interest in a move to MLS.
Newcastle, however, still have no natural left-back with their transfer window failings leaving Paul Dummett once again in the position.
So you could certainly argue that first-team football would have been more likely at Newcastle than it is currently at Everton.
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