Dan Gosling’s agent has hit out at claims the youngster walked out on his contract with Everton.
The 20-year-old joined Newcastle this week in one of the most bizarre transfers in recent years that needed a Premier League inquiry to ratify the move.
Everton were left empty handed despite the player’s age because they failed to offer a written deal, and David Hodgson insists they only have themselves to blame.
He told The People: “Dan Gosling did not walk out on Everton, they chose not to keep him.
“Everton had an obligation to offer him a contract in writing by the third Saturday in May. They could have offered him £1 more than his old contract and could have kept him or got a fee for him at a tribunal.
“I rang Dan that day to ask if he had got the letter. It hadn’t arrived. He wasn’t jumping around the room in delight because he was a free agent. He was broken-hearted, in tears.”
And Hodgson believes Gosling’s knee injury may be the reason no written offer materialised.
“They probably felt that because Dan’s injury was so serious maybe no-one was going to sign him and they were in a position to offer him anything they wanted,” he continued.
“But the final diagnosis on May 26 said he could be back playing by January.”