Dan Gosling: Notts County move a way for midfielder to 'find love for football'

Dan Gosling made his Notts County debut off the substitute's bench in Tuesday's EFL Cup defeat by Lincoln City

Dan Gosling says he has joined Notts County to try and rediscover his love for the game after almost a year out following an Achilles injury.

The 33-year-old last played for Watford in the Championship in November 2022.

Gosling said talking to midfielder John Bostock, who dropped into non-league with the Magpies last season, helped convince him it was the right move.

"He's got his love back for football and that's exactly where I'm at, at this stage," Gosling said.

"I've had to be really mentally strong in this period of time waiting for something to sort of drop. I was looking for an exciting project.

"There were so many teams I could have gone to, but I wanted one where there was a project, an aim, a goal.

"I got the feeling it was the right place."

'Notts couldn't be more perfect'

Gosling, who has almost 200 games of Premier League experience with Bournemouth, Everton, Newcastle and Watford, said he initially had hopes of moving his career abroad for his family when he recovered from his injury in the summer.

"There were two or three concrete things, but logistically they didn't work out with the children, so I had to pass on those opportunities," he told BBC Radio Nottingham.

"It was a shame, but there are more important things to think about than football now at this stage of my career.

"Doors were closing a little bit and we started looking closer to home.

"It got to November and got to a time where I wanted to carry on playing, I wanted to get back in, and Notts County couldn't have been any more perfect at this time in my career."

Gosling is the latest high-profile addition at Meadow Lane over the past two seasons.

Bostock, the former Tottenham and Crystal Palace midfielder who was once wanted by Barcelona, Malta international and ex-Coventry City winger Jodi Jones, and former Sheffield United and Derby County striker David McGoldrick have been eye-catching captures when dropping down the divisions to join the Magpies.

Gosling's move comes after the influential Matt Palmer was ruled out for the season with injury.

And Magpies head coach Luke Williams says getting the experienced replacement in on a short-term deal has come "as a real boost".

"When they [the players] learnt that Matty Palmer would not be with us for the rest of the season on the pitch that was a blow for them, for all of us," Williams said.

"Then you see this really forward-thinking, proactive football club sign Dan Gosling you go, 'Oh, OK, we are trying to move on.'

"That is what this type of signing means and represents. It's positive, positive and positive."