TWTD understands the Blues have offered midfielder Liam Gibbs a new contract with the youngster having already been noticed by Premier League clubs.

The 18-year-old made his first-team debut in 2019/20’s EFL Trophy tie at Colchester and played two more games in that competition this season before being handed his League One bow in November's 2-0 home defeat to Charlton.

Gibbs has been one of the outstanding performers in the U18s' FA Youth Cup run and we understand his displays have caught the eye of a number of Premier League sides who have subsequently been watching him on a regular basis.

The midfielder signed his first professional terms with the Blues on his 17th birthday in December 2019 and that deal is up at the end of the season.

However, we understand Town have now offered a new long-term deal which the Bury St Edmunds-born schemer is expected to sign.

Speaking about Gibbs last month, manager Paul Lambert said: “He’s a really good player, a really talented footballer.

“But as I’ve said before, I say it every time, he needs a little bit of time to develop and there’s no pressure.”

He added: “He’s really clever with the ball, he’s a really intelligent player. You only really need to tell him something once and he takes it in.

“That’s the sign of a good player, when they take it in first time then you know you’ve got a really good player on your hands. But again, without getting carried away, he has got a chance.”

Meanwhile, former Blues youngster Charlie Brown has moved to the MK Dons from Chelsea.

Brown, now 21, joined Town as an U10 but left for Chelsea in 2016 for a fee understood to be around £650,000 plus top-ups as he was about to start his scholarship having already broken into the U23s.

The frontman, the elder brother of current Blues youngster Zak, didn’t make a first-team appearance with Chelsea but last year spent time on loan with Belgian side Royale Union Saint-Gilloise - a pre-season opponent of Town’s in 2016 - where he made three senior appearances.

Town are understood not to have received anything as a result of the former Felixstowe Academy pupil’s move to the Dons.

Photo: Matchday Images

d77sgw added 09:50 - Jan 14 Hope he doesn't go, but if he did and we got a Charlie Brown level fee for him it wouldn't be terrible - its such a gamble with youngsters, and more often than not they do not they don't push through. I remember when Dean Bowditch was the outstanding player of his group - despite all the chances it never really happened for him. I suspect the £650k we got for Brown was a good deal for everyone but City. ..

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PackwoodBlue added 10:05 - Jan 14 I'm sure every better than average young EFL player is on the radar of Premier League clubs and I'm sure every agent is out to get themselves and their player as lucrative a move, as quickly as possible. That's the way the game is now, unfortunately. Unless the young player receives really honest guidance from those around him, supporting him and representing him then his actual long term progress as a footballer can be jeopardised. I can't blame any young player for feeling flattered, having their head turned and being blinded by the starry lights. I'm sure the majority genuinely feel they have the talent and hard work ethic to break through to a Premier League first team and cement a place in the squad, but I can't help thinking some would rather just be coached by a top manager, train with world class players in the week, lunch with them, receive first class physio, travel to European games perhaps, at the expense of only playing once or twice a season for two or three years. They'll be earning at least three times as much for the duration as they would at an EFL club and they can always drop back down to an EFL club when their contract expires if things don't work out, and still only be 21/22 years of age.

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