Everton shouldn’t let Jarrad Branthwaite leave as PSV rumours continue

Amidst all the confusion and upheaval of the last few weeks and months at Everton, both on and off the pitch, one young Blues’ player has been performing well while out on loan.

That is Jarrad Branthwaite. He joined Everton from Carlise United in January 2020 when Carlo Ancelotti was manager and was his first and perhaps at the time, slightly underwhelming signing.

Branthwaite was a highly-regarded young central defender who attracted attention from Premier League clubs when the Toffees’ moved for him.

Despite his obvious talent and promise, Branthwaite has struggled to hold down a regular place in the Blues’ team under a succession of managers.

His youth obviously is a major factor but the constant change of coaches probably hasn’t helped him either.

Ancelotti was the manager he signed for, he was replaced by Rafa Benitez and then Frank Lampard after Benitez was sacked last January.

It cannot be ideal to have three different managers with their changing football philosophies and tactics as well as different man-management styles, when you’re a young player still learning your trade.

Branthwaite did play from time to time while at Everton and had some good games and not so successful ones too. Again, that’s hardly suprising.

His stengths are considerable. He is left-footed (always a usesful advantage in central defenders) is strong in the air, has good pace and is very comfortable in possession, an ever more important quality in modern defenders.

After failing to find a regular place in the Everton team, despite it’s persistent defensive problems, eventually Lampard sent him out on loan last summer to Holland and PSV.

Branthwaite has enjoyed his time in the Eiredivisie and has grown in confidence while his performances have been increasingly influential.

So much so, that former Manchester United star Ruud Van Nistelrooy, the PSV manager, now wants to keep the young Englishman for the longer-term.

And, there have been rumours that the Blues’ have already rejected offers for him from the Dutch club.

With the number of centre-backs he has at Goodison Park, it may well be tempting for Sean Dyche to consider letting Branthwaite go this summer, particularly if he can get a decent fee for him.

After all he has Conor Coady, James Tarkowski, Yerry Mina, Ben Godfrey and Michael Keane in his squad at present.

However, Coady is only on loan for the season with no certainly he will sign permanently and Mina’s contract is up in the summer, while Keane has been subject to constant recent rumours he will leave the club.

Although Mina is an excellent defender when he plays, he is very injury-prone and so can rarely be relied upon to give the team more than the odd game here and there. That’s not enough for a side struggling as badly as this Toffees’ team is.

It does seem very likely anyway that he will leave in the summer with his age and wages also factors. This is especially the case if the Toffees’ go down of course.

As for Coady, his time on loan with the Blues’ started well and he looked a very strong and solid addition in the early weeks of the season.

More recently though, his performances have been well under par and he was dreaful again in Monday night’s derby defeat at Anfield. 

So, he will likely have to improve a great deal over the next few weeks and months to impress an exacting Dyche and get a long-term contract, if he still wants one.

That leaves Tarkowski, Keane and Godfrey. Dyche coming in as Everton manager may mean that his former Burnley charge Keane, will get another chance at some point in the remainder of this season.

That is something many Blues’ supporters won’t be too happy with given the appalingly inept performances he has produced in the past.

Then there is also the question of the age of the players. Of these defenders, only Godfrey is under 30 and so there is a looming issue with the longevity of Dyche’s options.

For all these reasons and the fact he seems to be maturing nicely and has benefitted from his time in Holland, I would argue that Everton should bring Branthwaite back in the summer and give the young centre-back another chance.

After all, if the Toffees’ do go down then they will almost certainly lose Mina, Coady and possibly Tarkowski as well and the manager will suddenly go from a surfeit of choice to being very short of central defensive players.