Everton sent scouts to Dundee United to watch midfielder Lewis Neilson.
The English Premier League clubs are always on the hunt to sign youth prospects from leagues around the United Kingdom, especially from the Scottish Premiership. Scotland has always produced exciting youngsters that have been snapped up by English teams. Dundee United midfielder Lewis Neilson may soon join the trend as a number of English sides sent scouts to evaluate the 17 year old, including Everton.
Dundee United is currently 5th in the Scottish Premiership and recently faced Celtic. According to The Courier, a number of Premier League clubs sent scouts to watch Lewis Neilson. The delegation had scouts from Everton, Leicester City, Southampton and Leeds United. The scouts were left heavily impressed by the 17 year old despite his team losing 1-0 to the Hoops.
Lewis Neilson has shown excellent signs of consistency and versatility throughout his junior career. Lewis Neilson joined Dundee United at the age of 10 and has risen through the youth ranks to finally feature for the first team. The Scot was recently selected for the Scotland U-17 team after taking his flamboyant performances in the Dundee United shirt into consideration.
Against Celtic, the 17 year old featured as a right back but was one of the three centre-backs in the first game of the season against St. Johnstone.
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Neilson is capable of flawlessly shifting between the roles of a central midfielder, right back and a centre back. In a true sense, he is a goldmine that English clubs are waiting to dig into.
Lewis Neilson is a youngster who is considered to be way ahead of his age group. His pace, composure and body structure helps him excel more than players of his age group. If Everton are impressed and make an offer to Dundee, will he play for the first team?
No. Lewis Neilson will definitely be a U-23 or an U-18 player for a few seasons. If he continues to shine and punch above his weight, Carlo Ancelotti may take notice and hand him an opportunity like he did to Anthony Gordon last season.
However, Dundee United are set to demand a seven figure transfer fee if they are to let their rising gem go to any other club.
Everton U-23 won the Premier League 2 in 2018-19 but find themselves in 7th position this year. A player like Lewis Neilson will instantly elevate certain areas in the team and offer flexibility to David Unsworth.
Everton or any other Premier League side wanting to sign Lewis Neilson will hope to get the deal before Brexit as signing U-18 players from anywhere across Europe post-Brexit will be a complicated task.