Dan Gosling

Daniel Gosling (born 1 February 1990) is an English professional footballer who plays as a midfielder.

Gosling is a versatile player, having operated as a box-to-box midfielder on several occasions and occasionally deputised at right back to accommodate substitutions.

His previous clubs are Plymouth Argyle, Everton, Newcastle United and AFC Bournemouth.

Born in Brixham, Devon, Gosling was spotted by Plymouth Argyle scouts when he was playing in the under-12 side of hometown club Brixham United.

On 9 December 2006, at age 16 years and 310 days, he made his professional debut against Hull City, coming on as a first-half substitute for injured Captain Paul Wotton and became the fourth youngest debutant.

His full debut came on New Year's Day 2007, against Southampton at Home Park.

He proved his versatility in a solid performance, by moving from right-midfield to right-back after an early injury to defender Mathias Kouo-Doumbé.

Gosling established himself as a regular in the reserve team, and his impressive performances were noticed by manager Ian Holloway.

At the beginning of March 2007 he trained for a week with Premiership club Chelsea along with teammates Luke Summerfield and Scott Sinclair.

That same year he was named The Herald's Young Sports Personality of the Year in 2007.

In January 2008, Gosling signed a two and a half-year contract for Premier League team Everton from Plymouth, days after Everton's Lukas Jutkiewicz was loaned to the Pilgrims.

His first-team debut came in a 1–0 away victory against Middlesbrough in December 2008, and his first goal for the club came two days later in a 3–0 victory over Sunderland at Goodison Park.

After the match, he was given a standing ovation by his own teammates in the dressing room.

In February 2009, Gosling came on as a substitute and scored the only goal in the FA Cup fourth round replay at Goodison Park against crosstown rivals Liverpool in the 118th minute.

An error by live broadcasters ITV during the match meant the goal was missed by millions of TV viewers, including Gosling's mother Hilary.

The goal scored against Liverpool was voted Everton's 'Goal of the Season' by the fans of the club.

He went on to play in the 2009 FA Cup Final, coming on as a second-half substitute.

In the 2009–10 season, Gosling was mostly on the bench for league games, but was in the starting eleven for most of the League Cup and Europa League matches.

Negotiations for a contract extension began in May 2009.

In March 2010, he ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament after a collision with Wolverhampton Wanderers goalkeeper Marcus Hahnemann, and was ruled out of playing for nine months.

Gosling declared "there's no other club I'd rather be at", however no extension was agreed and his contract with Everton expired on 30 June 2010.

During contract negotiations Gosling was represented by David Hodgson, a solicitor and former professional footballer.

On 6 July 2010, the Daily Mirror reported that the PFCC tribunal's decision allowed Gosling to leave Everton under the Bosman ruling with no compensation being paid by the club who sign the player.

Everton were required to submit a contract with better terms than the existing contract to Gosling before the 30 May deadline to enable the club to receive compensation from any English club interested in signing Gosling.

The compensation amount has been reported as being as high as £4million.

The PFCC tribunal based their decision on Everton's contract offer being verbally arranged and not in writing: had the contract been in writing the Merseyside club would have been entitled to compensation should Gosling have moved to another English club (but not to a non-English club) as he is under 24 years of age.

The tribunal's decision also meant that Gosling's previous club Plymouth Argyle would receive no monetary amount despite a sell-on clause in Gosling's Everton contract.

As the playing contract expired Everton and Plymouth are also no longer entitled to solidarity contributions despite the player being registered with the clubs before he turned 23.

During the season Plymouth went into administration.

On 22 July 2010, Gosling signed for Newcastle United He made only one appearance in his first season for the club, because of a continuing problem with his knee, resulting in surgery in February 2011.

From then on, he only made substitute appearances due to the prominent pairing of Cheick Tioté and Yohan Cabaye.

His only goal for the club came in a 3–1 defeat to Manchester City on 19 November 2011, which ended the Magpies' unbeaten start to the 2011–12 season.

On 4 October 2013, Gosling signed a three-month loan deal with Blackpool.

Following Cabaye's departure in January 2014, he began to be used more regularly until the end of the season.

He returned in January 2014, having made 14 appearances.

On 16 May 2014, Gosling agreed a four-year contract with Championship club AFC Bournemouth.

Due to the prominent midfield partnership of Harry Arter and Andrew Surman, Gosling struggled to cement his position in the starting XI in the league.

Gosling commented that "On my first day here, I saw the quality and it took me by surprise a little. I didn’t play a lot because the team was performing so well and it was the same for Adam Smith and Junior Stanislas. I made one start in the Championship season which, out of 46 games, was quite incredible really".

Gosling did however go on an impressive scoring run in the League Cup, scoring 5 goals in 5 appearances.

Gosling finished his debut season with the club having made 24 total appearances, as the Cherries were promoted to the Premier League for the first time in their history.