Rafa Benitez makes bullish claim about Everton youngster’s future amid Bundesliga interest

Rafa Benitez is confident Everton can tie down Lewis Dobbin to a new contract.

The Toffees youngster is approaching the final six months of his current deal.

Background

Dobbin penned professional terms at Goodison Park in January 2020.

He's broken into the first-team set-up this campaign after plundering three hat-tricks for the under-23s during pre-season.

So far, Dobbin has made three appearances for Everton. His latest was an impressive cameo in the heroic 1-1 draw at Chelsea.

Supporters are unsurprisingly worried that the 18-year-old could depart for next to nothing when his contract comes to a close in the summer.

But having held discussions Benitez is bullish Dobbin will commit his future.

The Everton boss said: “I don’t like to talk too much about that but I think the player is quite happy and our conversations with him have been quite positive.

“I have confidence that he will be delighted to stay with us in the future.”

Will Dobbin stay at Everton?

Everton have been busy tying down the futures of their fledgling talents.

So far this season, Jarrad Branthwaite and Ellis Simms have put pen to paper on fresh contracts.

Dobbin, who is an England under-19 international, reportedly has interest from rival Premier League clubs as well as in the Bundesliga.

If he were to leave Goodison, the Blues would be entitled to a development fee as he's under the age of 23.

However, it would likely be substantially less than Dobbin's market value.

Benitez revealed he's changed the structure of things in the background at Goodison and held talks with several young players.

He said: “When the situation of the club changed a little bit in terms of the structure, the first thing that we did was to have two or three meetings with young players, their agents and their families to try and make sure they could stay with us for a long time.

“I did it personally with some of them.”