Lewis Gibson left Everton to join Reading on a season-long loan over the summer, but his move to the Madejski Stadium hasn’t gone to plan.
Despite impressing on loan at Fleetwood Town in 2019/20, the 20-year-old wasn’t going to be in Carlo Ancelotti’s plans this season. Unfortunately, he doesn’t appear to be in Veljko Paunović’s plans at Reading either and is currently spending a lot of time on the bench.
It’s not ideal for a young defender in need of competitive action to see their development stalling, so it remains to be seen if he’ll stick around for the entire campaign.
Why isn’t Gibson playing for Reading?
Gibson is yet to make a single appearance for Reading since joining the Championship outfit in September. He was an unused substitute in the Royals’ 2-1 win over Cardiff City (September 26, 2020), 1-0 win over Watford (October 3), 0-0 draw with Middlesbrough (October 17), 1-0 win over Wycombe Wanderers (October 20), 3-0 win over Rotherham United (October 24), 4-2 win over Blackburn Rovers (October 27), 3-2 defeat to Coventry City (October 30) and 3-0 defeat to Preston North End (November 4).
Under Paunović, Gibson finds himself below Liam Moore (10 appearances), Michael Morrison (11 appearances), Tom McIntyre (eight appearances) and Thomas Holmes (six appearances) in the pecking order, so it remains to be seen when he’ll finally get some playing time.
What are his options?
Gibson’s loan at Reading will come to an end on May 31, 2021, but he does have a break clause attached that could see him return to Everton midway through the season. We have the option to bring him back to Goodison Park in January, so it looks like his stint at the Madejski may be cut short if the situation doesn’t change.
The 20-year-old will have Mason Holgate, Ben Godfrey, Yerry Mina, Jarrad Branthwaite and Michael Keane for competition at Everton, but he would have been useful as cover when Holgate and Branthwaite were on the treatment table.
We could loan him to another club in January if there are suitors interested as he needs minutes and may not get a lot with us when everybody is fit. For now, the Championship appears to be his level, so maybe he can find another club in the second tier.
In other news, let’s talk about a ‘made up’ transfer rumour regarding Everton and Emerson