Bristol Rovers dealt major transfer blow in pursuit of £6m Everton man

Bristol Rovers have been dealt a major blow in their attempts to bring Lewis Gibson back to the club this summer.

Everton have offered Gibson, who made 31 appearances in League One this season for the Gas, a new contarct, along with Seamus Coleman, Tom Davies, Andy Lonergan and Ryan Astley. The 21-year-old had signed a one-year extension last summer before joining Rovers, and it is unsure what the contract length is on his new offer.

Gibson could reject the contract, and leave but it would mean for any club wanting to sign him, they would have to pay compensation for him, and that won't be cheap. He was signed by Everton in 2019 from Newcastle United, in a deal that could be worth up to £6m. He has yet to play a competitive game for Everton, and the highest level he has played so far is in the Championship, where he had a loan spell with Reading.

Everton are managed by Sean Dyche, who once managed Joey Barton at Burnley, and suggested that he would give his former boss a a positie reference for the defender who served Rovers well this season. He said in May: "Dychey’s going to obviously speak to him about me I imagine. He’ll get nothing but a glowing report from me.

“Give him a go. If they’re in the Premier League that will change it because I don’t think he will get a shot at it. We’ve got to give young lads an opportunity to see what they can do.

"Hopefully, Gibbo goes beyond us and signs for a big club because that will be great for his career and I think the same about loads of our lads. We’ve got to do everything we can."

Should Gibson sign a new deal at Everton, it wouldn’t 100% rule him out reuniting with Rovers, but he is at a crucial time of his development and he will want to build on his loan spell at Rovers, where he played the most games he has done so far in his career.

As one loanee’s return looks unlikely to the Memorial Stadium, BristolLive report that the club are monitoring Connor Taylor’s situation at Stoke City. Taylor was a huge part of the 2021/22 promotion winning side, and fans as well as management staff wanted him back, but he ended up becoming a first-team player at the bet365 Stadium, before the sacking of Michael O’Neill. Alex Neil replaced him in September and Taylor’s first-team opportunities were limited, and that led to an unsuccessful bid from Rovers to re-sign him in January.