Silva doesn’t consider Gibson as first-team option

Marco Silva does not consider Lewis Gibson to be a part of the first-team group this season, according to reports.

The 19-year old has been linked with a number of clubs this season, with his contract set to expire next summer.

Clubs from Germany and Scotland have registered an interest in the centre-back, while Newcastle are interested in re-signing the player they sold to the Toffees for £6million in 2017.

Gibson is highly regarded at Finch Farm, and he has been training with the first-team for much of this season, subsequently losing his place in David Unsworth’s Under-23s side.

Concerns have been raised that unless Everton can show him that there is a clear path into the first-team, that he could look to move elsewhere to play senior football, as he believes he is ready to make the step up.

However, according to The Athletic (via Sportslens), Silva does not view Gibson as an option for the first-team this season.

Everton only have Michael Keane, Yerry Mina and Mason Holgate as senior options at centre-back this season, and many had expected Gibson to become the fourth option, with the Blues short in depth in that position.

Various reports have suggested that Silva may return to the transfer market in January in order to further strengthen his defensive group, having missed out on Kurt Zouma this summer, although Marcel Brands has claimed in the past that he does not like to do major business in the winter window.

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I guess this makes sense in some way, with Silva unlikely to want to rely on someone with so little experience unless absolutely necessary.

However given that he is almost out of contract, and that he is so highly rated on Merseyside, it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world to keep him involved to he sees his future at Goodison Park.

At some point Gibson would expect to make the step up, and introducing him slowly but surely would be the best bet. Keeping him out in the cold until further recruits are signed in January won’t give him much confidence over his long-term future.