Irish international Darron Gibson was dealt a blow last night with news that he was to be one of ten players to be released by Salford City following the decision to end the League Two season.
Gibson had originally joined the club in February on a short term deal that was intended to be extended to a longer term contract this summer, however, things have not worked out that way and the club and player have gone their separate ways.
Darron Gibson has been released by Salford. He has scored more goals in Champions League semi-finals (1) in his career than in any matches in the last seven years.
— Richard Jolly 🇺🇦 (@RichJolly) May 17, 2020
A mixture of bad luck with injuries and some off the field problems have derailed the 32-year-old's career in recent years and it's hard to see where he goes from here.
In 2006, Gibson was Manchester United's youth player of the year, and had loan spells at Antwerp and Wolves before making his Premier League debut for United in 2008. Over the next three seasons, he was on the verge of a breakthrough to United's first team, playing semi-regularly, and even starting and scoring in a Champions League Quarter-Final.
The following year, he would score in the semi-finals of the competition against Schalke but was not named on the bench for the final against Barcelona.
He moved to Everton in January 2012, where he made a big impact on the team but suffered a string of injuries including a lost season in 2013/14 when he tore his cruciate ligament in October.
He would move to Sunderland in 2017, lasting just over a year before joining Wigan the following season. After more than half a season without a club, he joined Salford in February, but had just over a month to impress before football was suspended.
Off the field, Gibson has been at centre of two drink driving charges, in 2015 and 2018. The 2018 charge resulted in his release from Sunderland.
With all of this behind him, and with no significant football under his belt for nearly three years, it's hard to see where a player who will be 33 early next season goes from here. Gibson was at one time a next big thing for Irish football, but now, just a few years later, it's very difficult to see a future in his football career.
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