Everton should hand ‘outstanding’ £6m investment Lewis Gibson a chance to shine

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Everton faced something of a left-back crisis at the weekend. With Lucas Digne suspended, the Toffees handed Leighton Baines the starting role. This was despite him coming off with a rib injury in the most recent fixture against Huddersfield Town.

It completely backfired.

Baines had to come off after 37 minutes, clearly suffering from the injury. It was a poor call from Marco Silva to play the veteran, who was clearly not fit.

But with the season, essentially, over, why not hand a young talent a chance to shine?

Everton have Lewis Gibson currently in the development system. A left-sided defender, he is a player with massive potential.

Everton paid a lot to bring him to Finch Farm. As reported by the Liverpool Echo, Everton put together a deal in the region of £6 million for the former Newcastle United talent. Quite a substantial fee for a teenager.

Gibson went on to win the under-17 World Cup with England later that year and is clearly a huge talent for the future.

David Unsworth has made his admiration for the player clear in recent times, although injury has certainly held him back.

 “Lewis Gibson has been outstanding.

“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.”

– Everton u-23 boss David Unsworth, Liverpool Echo, April 2018

But he is fit again and, although eventually a centre-back in the making, is more than capable at left-back.

Why not throw him into the first-team picture now. Cross-city rivals Liverpool found themselves in a similar situation at right-back a couple of seasons back and handed Trent Alexander-Arnold a chance. Jurgen Klopp certainly doesn’t regret that decision.

The 18-year-old talent is clearly a bright spark for the future and Everton could unearth a gem by handing him a chance in the Premier League before the end of the season.