Lewis Gibson is reportedly being eyed at by former club Newcastle United two years after the teenager left the club to join Everton.
According to The Daily Mail, the England youth international is being courted by the northeast side after failing to break into the Toffees first-team, and with Gibson’s contract expiring at the end of the season, Newcastle could see one of their former academy stars return on a bargain.
There is also some allure to Gibson making the return to Tyneside as well, with the report stating that the 19-year-old was one of the players targeted by former Newcastle academy coach Peter Beardsley, who was accused by multiple players that he bullied them during their time at the Magpies.
With the success of the Longstaff brothers in the Newcastle first-team, who Gibson is close friends with, there is a good reason as to why the centre-back would want a return to his boyhood club if given the opportunity.
As reported by The Chronicle, Everton paid a reported £6m for Gibson’s signature in 2017, yet despite this chunky fee for a teenage player, the defender is yet to play a single minute of first-team football as numbers from Transfermarkt show.
With Yerry Mina and Michael Keane the established centre-backs for Marco Silva’s side and Football Insider reporting that Everton will go into the January market looking for defensive recruitments to add some depth, a path into the first-team just doesn’t seem viable for Gibson.
For the England youth international, it appears that he has hit a brick wall on Merseyside that looks too stubborn to get through, meaning that a move back to Newcastle next season could be a bold resolution given their recent success with playing youngsters from the academy.