Everton hope to keep hold of Lewis Gibson as contract nears expiry
Everton “hope” to keep hold of young defender Lewis Gibson and remain in talks over a new deal, according to The Athletic.
The club announced on their website Thursday [10 June] the lists of players who had been released or offered new deals, and confirmed they were in negotiations with the 21-year-old.
Gibson is yet to make a first-team appearance for the Toffees and spent the 2021/22 season on loan at Sheffield Wednesday in League One.
He had signed a two-and-a-half year deal in January 2020 ahead of a loan move to Fleetwood [evertonfc.com], with a season at Reading coming subsequently, which is due to expire.
The Athletic report says that talks are ongoing and the club hopes he will sign a new deal.
His time with the Owls was wrecked by injury issues, meaning he only made a total of six appearances in all competitions.
Opportunity?
The youngster’s progression has clearly stalled after a season which can only be described as a step backwards amid fitness problems.
Having made 13 Championship appearances with Reading in the 2020/21 season, his league minutes were reduced to a third of that level in the third tier.
The first team is crying out for help in the defensive department but it seems unlikely that he is in line for an immediate chance there if he decides to stay.
As with the likes of Lewis Warrington it seems more accurate that the club want to keep hold of younger players whose contracts should not be too expensive, in the hope that they make a leap in one of their loan spells.
From there they can be assessed for addition to the senior squad but would more likely represent an asset for sale.
If the Toffees can convince him to sign new terms then Frank Lampard will surely cast an eye over his progress during the pre-season, but as the centre-back will turn 22 in July he will need to see a path to the first team sooner rather than later to make it worthwhile.
In other Everton news, finance expert Kieran Maguire reacted to the announcement of the club’s new sponsorship deal.
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