Sources: Everton loanee set to agree contract extension after big development
Everton rising star Lewis Gibson is poised to agree an extension to his Fleetwood Town loan despite Yerry Mina’s injury blow, Football Insider understands.
The Merseysiders announced last week the Colombia international is set to miss the restart of the Premier League season after picking up a thigh tear in training.
An Everton source has told Football Insider that the club have no plans to recall centre-back Gibson from his Fleetwood loan, which was due to expire this month.
It is instead set to be extended for the rest of the League One season, allowing Gibson to play for Joey Barton’s side in the end-of-season play-offs in July.
The EFL announced yesterday the League One normal campaign has been terminated due to the pandemic, but promotion and relegation will go ahead.
The third promotion place will be determined by the play-offs, with Fleetwood competing with Portsmouth, Oxford United and Wycombe Wanderers in the matches next month as they vie to join Coventry City and Rotherham in next season’s Championship.
There is no formal recall option in Gibson’s loan and Everton will not be seeking special dispensation from the Premier League in order to bring the 19-year-old back to the club.
Carlo Ancelotti and his coaching staff believe the teenager would be better served by playing for Fleetwood in pressurised matches rather than being an understudy at Goodison.
Ancelotti is instead looking to promote January signing Jarrad Branthwaite, only 17, into the first-team squad to back-up Mason Holgate and Michael Keane.
The duo are the only senior fit centre-backs in the Everton squad after they decided to make do without replacing 2018-19 loanee Kurt Zouma last summer.
Losing Mina is a major blow – he has started 23 of their 29 Premier League games this season – but there is hope he will be fit for the final matches of this campaign.
In other Everton news, it can be REVEALED that the club are within hours of finalising transfer for 7-figure fee after he underwent medical.