Tony Scott has been speaking on the All Together Now podcast about how Everton are trying to structure a deal for Morgan Gibbs-White.
It has been a very slow and frustrating window thus far for Everton and Frank Lampard, having seen a whole load of players leave as free agents and last season’s top scorer Richarlison depart for £60m, while the only incoming has been James Tarkowski on a free.
Everton have been linked with several young players this summer such as Keane Lewis-Potter, Conor Gallagher and Gibbs-White, however, it’s the latter who is seemingly at the top of the list, with Everton having already seen one bid rejected.
Scott believes that Everton are being smart by looking to pay for Gibbs-White in instalments and very little cash upfront.
He said: “We’ve seen the bid today [Monday] of £20m for Morgan Gibbs-White, Wolves have turned it down.
“It looks like it was declined due to obviously instalments in terms of the payment deal.
Will Everton managed to sign Gibbs-White?
Yes!
No!
“Everton have got to be savvy, here. They’ll probably get criticised now, Everton, by trying to be savvy. And it’s refreshing, in my opinion, that they’re looking at the finances and they’re not just throwing five-year contracts out and throwing £30m there or £40m there like they did do four or five years ago, they’re trying to be savvy now in the way they’re recruiting.
“So if you’re taking a gamble on a player like Morgan Gibbs-White – he is a gamble for 20-odd million, isn’t he? They’re obviously looking to down payments in terms of there’ll be £5m this season, £5m [next season] – and that’s the way they’ve got to work, isn’t it? Because we know the FFP side, it’s killing us, so they’ve got to be savvy in the recruitment.”
TIF Thoughts on Everton’s pursuit of Gibbs-White…
It’s clear that Frank Lampard is targeting young, hungry and homegrown players this summer to help energise Everton’s squad, with the likes of Gallagher, Billy Gilmour and Gibbs-White all rumoured signings for the Toffees.
However, unlike someone such as Gallagher, Gibbs-White has never been afforded a full campaign where he’s started regularly in the Premier League, although he did get a runout in the Championship last season which saw him register 20 goal involvements.
So it’s clear to see why Everton are interested in him, especially with just two years left on his contract. However, with Wolves rejecting a £25m bid, anything more than that would likely be seen as a major gamble for a largely unproven quantity.