Newcastle United could pick up a £6million windfall for Lewis Gibson after seeing his scholarship contract terminated by his representatives last summer, according to the Chronicle.
The newspaper claim on their website that Everton, the side who the defender joined after leaving St James’ Park, could pay the seven-figure fee depending on how well the youngster progresses.
It was revealed that rather than Everton agreeing a deal with Newcastle, he chose to cancel his contract with the Magpies, who are said to have failed to offer him satisfactory terms of a professional deal, and that the Toffees will pay compensation instead.
Opinion
Newcastle might think that £6million for a youngster who never played for the first team is a decent bit of business but the fact of the matter is he could progress into a decent player worth a lot more to Everton in the future. It will be a bitter pill to swallow if he does go on to become a top quality talent but that is a lesson for the Magpies to learn from. If they feel they have an emerging talent, they cannot afford to be stingy and not give him the deal he deserves – otherwise a rival will be waiting in the wings to snap him up. Newcastle have Gibson’s older brother Liam on board and there might be hopes that the talent runs in the blood. However, it will not take away the pain of seeing the Everton man grow into a top class footballer if that is what happens.