Now this could just be a re-hash of an older story doing the rounds that has now gained elevated importance due to the British tabloids picking it up but.......
Everton youngster Dan Gosling could walk out on the club for free after a frankly horrendous admin error made him a free agent, according to this article in the Daily Mirror.
Apparently Bill Kenwright and co's failure to offer Gosling a new deal by the end of May meant he can leave the club on a free transfer.
Everton apparently argued their case but a Premier League enquiry has ruled on the side of the player, meaning he is free to go for nothing. He is currently valued at between £4-5million.
If this is true then it is of course a very sloppy bit of work by the club, but that still shouldn't disguise Gosling's behaviour in all of this.
After all there is nothing stopping him saying: "ok fair enough, silly mistake just give me the contract now and I'll sign it." It would seem, given all this fuss, that he wants to leave.
Which begs the question - why?
For starters he isn't that good. A lot of non Everton fans see that he scored against Liverpool and Man United and assume he is on a par with say Jack Rodwell. But if you watch him week in week in out it is clear he is an average player and one that needs to improve massively if he is to be a star.
Secondly the clubs interested in him - Sunderland and Newcastle. Why would he want to go there? I don't believe the reason given in the article of him wanting first-team football. He only broke into the side 18 months ago and we barely had 11 players fit to play last season so it wasn't as if he was left out in the cold on a regular basis.
Thirdly - he is injured! He picked up a serious knee injury against Wolves in March and is still three months away from playing again. Free transfer or not it is a massive risk to bring in a player who is yet to recover from such a serious knee injury.
The whole thing doesn't make sense and makes me wonder whether something else is going on that we do not yet know about.
I personally hope he stays as he seems an honest player with potential. However, if he does leave to join someone like Newcastle then I don't think I or many other Everton fans will lose much sleep about it.