Ben Gibson has become a key part of Middlesbrough’s defence since making his first start in the 2013/14 season. Gibson was especially key last season. He was one of only five Premier League players to play every minute of Premier League football for their club. The only other outfield player being Cesar Azpillicueta.
However, since being relegated from the Premier League with Middlesbrough, speculation over Gibson’s future has run rampant. While new Boro boss Garry Monk is keen to keep hold of Gibson, stating that ‘Ben is one of a number of players here who are integral to the squad, integral to making that step back’, it is unlikely that Gibson will remain at Boro in the Championship with so many Premier League clubs interested in him.
Tottenham Hotspur, West Brom and a number of other clubs have all expressed an interest in signing Gibson. But the most likely club to sign Gibson at this moment seems to be Liverpool. Jurgen Klopp’s side expressed an interest in Gibson after failing to land Southampton defender Virgil Van Dijk.
With Gibson seeming likely to be leaving Boro in the summer, Middlesbrough must now find a suitable replacement. Here are three players who could replace Ben Gibson if he joins Liverpool.
Kyle Bartley
Kyle Bartley is a 26-year-old centre-back currently signed to Swansea City. However, Bartley does not seem to be a part of Swansea City’s plans. The centre-back spent all of last season on loan at Championship side Leeds United. This, of course, means new Boro manager Garry Monk, who was Leeds boss last season, has had a firsthand look at how effective Bartley is.
Bartley obviously impressed Monk greatly last season as Monk has put him on top of his transfer shopping list. Bartley would be a great replacement for Ben Gibson for a number of reasons. Firstly because he has a pre-existing relationship with Monk who clearly likes him.
Also, Bartley played 45 games for Leeds in the league last season. During this time he scored six and assisted two which is impressive for a centre back. But more importantly, he was a key reason as to why Leeds only conceded 47 goals last season, the 4th best in the league. Leeds United also kept 15 clean sheets last season, their highest total in the Championship since the 2005/6 season.
This clearly shows Bartley is a good Championship centre-back as in his only season at Leeds, in which he played 45 games; he managed to help them keep their most clean sheets in the Championship for over 10 years.
Dael Fry
Dael Fry is a Middlesbrough academy graduate who has played 10 games for Boro’s first team. An argument can be made that Fry is too young (19) and to inexperienced to take Gibson’s place. However, if you do not give young players a chance, how will they develop? Also, Gibson himself was just 20 when he started to play consistently for Boro in the Championship. This shows if Middlesbrough does give their young players enough playing time they can become Premier League quality. If Middlesbrough had not given Gibson all that playing time when he was younger, he may not have become the centre back he is today.
Furthermore, Gibson also spent a lot of his playing time next to Daniel Ayala. Ayala was slightly more experienced and always seemed to be Boro’s main centre back. But because Gibson was given so much playing time, he has become Boro’s number one defender.
On the subject of Daniel Ayala, if he remains at Boro, he could form an excellent partnership with Fry. Ayala could be the smarter experienced centre-back who could easily help Fry to develop.
So, if given the playing time and guidance from Ayala, there’s no reason why Fry couldn’t take Gibson’s spot.
Tom Lees
The third and probably least likely replacement for Ben Gibson is Sheffield Wednesday defender Tom Lees. Lees arrived from Leeds United in July 2014. During this time he has been an integral part of the Owls defence. In his three seasons at the club, Wednesday have kept 17 clean sheets in 2014/15, 17 in 2015/16 and 16 this season.
Wednesday also conceded just 45 goals this season. This was the third lowest in the league with only Newcastle United and Brighton conceding less. Moreover, Lees missed 11 games in the league this season. In those games Wednesday managed to keep just two clean sheets. This shows how important Lees is to the club as when he is absent; they struggle to keep clean sheets. The defender also captained Wednesday 15 times this season which shows he is also a leader, a quality Ben Gibson provided for Middlesbrough. With this in mind, Lees would clearly be a great player to replace Gibson. But it would probably take quite a large fee for Wednesday to sell him.
