Everton have hit back at “ludicrous” claims made by former player Dan Gosling’s agent.
Gosling, 20, was able to leave the Goodison Park club for Newcastle on a free this summer after the Toffees failed to produce a written contract offer, despite a verbal agreement.
The midfielder’s agent David Hodgson has claimed that Everton became complacent when Gosling sustained a serious knee injury, assuming it would put off any potential suitors.
But Everton have responded in a statement, which read: “In the wake of a report in a Sunday newspaper in which the agent of Dan Gosling made a series of allegations, Everton Football Club has decided to take the unprecedented step of setting straight a record of recent events which has, in its opinion, been deliberately distorted.
“In the article, David Hodgson suggested that not only did this club not wish to extend Mr Gosling’s stay at Goodison park but that it had been deliberately tardy with regard to the formal offer of a new contract, presuming that an injury sustained by the player during the course of last season was of such a serious nature it would prevent him from signing for another club.
“Both claims are ludicrous, totally without substance and grossly misleading.”