Breaking news in the last few moments has confirmed that Everton have completed the signing of top NUFC prospect Lewis Gibson, signing the England U-17 on a three-year contract, in a deal believed to be worth in excess of £6m.
Gibson is an England U-17 international and had enjoyed an impressive start to life on Tyneside, having shone in the U-18’s and, quite impressively, in Peter Beardsley’s U-23 side as a 16-year old.
Everton’s interest has been known for a few weeks now and they have finally got their man, beating off interest from Tottenham and Manchester City by all accounts.
The 17-year old said the following after completing his move to Merseyside today:
“Everton is a brilliant club and when the opportunity presented itself I wanted to be part of it,”
“I’m a player who is willing to put my body on the line, the kind of defender who likes to tackle and is not afraid. I’m excited to be part of things here and I want to continue developing as a player. This is where I want to be.”
? | We have completed the signing of @LewisGippa3. The defender will link up with David Unsworth’s #EFCU23s: https://t.co/1KCusKJnWz pic.twitter.com/sNLovugPVj
— Everton (@Everton) July 27, 2017
Gibson is a local lad, but I struggle to begrudge his move to Everton. Not only are they a club on the up, investing over £100m already this summer, they have a track record of developing top youth talent, with Tom Davies, Kieran Dowell, Jonjoe Kenny and several others already battling for first-team places in Ronald Koeman’s side.
Whilst it is disappointing to lose a player believed to be one of our top youth prospects, the £6m will more than cover the buy-out clause for Borussia Dortmund’s Mike Merino. A decent bit of business when you put it that way, given Merino is a highly-rated Spanish U-21 international.
Good luck to Gibson in his future ventures with Everton.