Everton fought off interest from Arsenal, Southampton, Celtic and the two Manchester giants to land Newcastle United starlet Lewis Gibson.
After weeks of speculation, 17-year-old Lewis Gibson is finally an Everton player.
According to the Liverpool Echo, the teenager has signed a three-year contract with The Toffees in a deal which could rise to a staggering £6 million. That’s quite an investment for a young player without a single minute of senior football under his belt.
However, Everton are clearly confident that Gibson (below, left) will prove to be worth every penny.
A product of Newcastle United’s academy, Gibson has enjoyed a superb 12 months, being promoted from the Under-18s to The Magpies’ reserve squad while playing every minute as England reached the final of the Under-17 European championships, losing on penalties to Spain.
And the fact that Everton had to beat off competition from a whole host of Premier League heavyweights just highlights what an exciting talent this sprightly young full-back is.
According to the Liverpool Echo, Manchesters United and City, plus Arsenal, Southampton and Scottish treble winners Celtic had spent the last few months tracking Gibson’s progress. And you don’t command this much interest from top level clubs without being a rather special talent.
Gibson at Goodison
Therefore, Newcastle’s loss looks very much like Everton’s gain. No homegrown player has cemented a place in The Magpies’ first-team since Paul Dummett, a truly unacceptable fact considering that the North East is a hotbed of young footballing talent.
Everton, however, have paid far more attention to their academy with director of football Steve Walsh (below) embarking upon an aggressive recruitment strategy designed to identify and recruit some of Europe’s top young talent.
Gibson joins Boris Mathis, Nathangelo Markelo and former QPR starlet Pete Bowler at Goodison Park this summer. Time will tell whether he will follow Tom Davies, Mason Holgate and co into Everton’s first-team.
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