David Unsworth heaped praise on Everton defender Lewis Gibson when evaluating the Tofffees’ current Under-23s squad.
The Toffees coach when revealing that the club’s Under-23s squad was set to be shaken up next season, shared that he had been impressed with current Toffees starlet Gibson.
“Lewis Gibson has been outstanding,” said Unsworth, as quoted by the Liverpool Echo.
“He’s got better and better and better and he’s a natural born leader and he’s been captain for the last couple of games.”
The 17-year-old centre-back has made 16 appearances in the Premier League 2 this season, after joining the club last summer from Newcastle United.
The Toffees agreed a deal with the Magpies that could potentially cost the club £6million , according to the Liverpool Echo, in order to sign the teenager ahead of this season.
The newspaper claimed at the time that Gibson rejected offers from Tottenham, Man City and Southampton in the summer, before arriving at Goodison Park.
OPINION
While Unsworth revealing that the Toffees Under-23 squad was set to be improved next season is exciting, his praise of Gibson is even more noteworthy. The Toffees’ successful pursuit of the 17-year-old in the summer, appeared to be an excellent signing made with the future in mind, and it’s good to hear that he is working out at the club. The Toffees starlet is no doubt still a long way off breaking into the first-team, given the fact he’s only 17-years-old, but who knows. The Toffees took a huge risk by agreeing to a deal that could cost eventually cost them £6million, as that’s a lot of money to pay for an unproven talent. However by the sounds of it, the teenager appears to be one of the better signings that the Toffees made last summer, given how some of their more high profile recruits have worked out at the club.