Former Everton player Paul Gascoigne
Former Everton player Paul Gascoigne
Football legend Paul Gascoigne believes the move to the new stadium can prove the beginning of a bright new dawn for Everton while also tipping Jarrad Branthwaite to become a potential £100million player. Following the 4-0 victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers on Wednesday, the Blues host neighbours Liverpool in the last ever Merseyside Derby in the Premier League at Goodison Park on Saturday ahead of relocating to their 52,888 capacity future home at Bramley-Moore Dock next season.
Gascoigne, who came to Everton a decade on from his World Cup heroics for England at Italia ‘90, playing 38 matches between 2000-02, reckons the move from the country’s first purpose-built football ground to what has already become an iconic building on the Mersey waterfront, can help revive his former club’s fortunes.
Speaking courtesy of cardplayer.com, he exclusively told the ECHO: “I think it’s a new start, fresh start. Give them some money, start spending some money and a fresh start helps a lot of people.
“I think the only one that I was worried about was when West Ham got that new big stadium. These players were used to playing in a smaller stadium where the crowd are on top of you and then all of a sudden, it’s different.”
One of the players Everton hope could be part of that revival is Jarrad Branthwaite who was their breakthrough star of last season, going on to win his first England cap against Bosnia and Herzegovina on June 3. The centre-back was the subject of two rejected bids from Manchester United over the summer and despite struggling against them in the Blues’ 4-0 defeat at Old Trafford on Sunday, he was back on form to help his side keep a clean sheet against Wolves.
Although Goodison Park chiefs were able to turn down United’s brace of offers in the last transfer window – understood to be £35million plus add ons and then £45million plus add ons – even with the Friedkin Group’s proposed takeover expected to be completed this month, Gascoigne fears Everton might not be able to say no if a suitor was prepared to make ‘The Carlisle Kaiser’ the third English player to command a nine-figure fee after Jack Grealish’s move from Aston Villa to Manchester City and Declan Rice’s switch from West Ham United to Arsenal.
He said: “Jarrad is definitely a good player. He’s strong.
“He knows how to use the ball well. He’s going to be a good quality player.
“The problem is, if Everton haven’t got money, if someone comes in and offers them £100m, Everton’s not going to turn it down. That's the problem these teams have with quality players, it’s keeping a hold of them, because you’ve got no chance, with the money going on and if a player’s got a year left, and someone’s offering them £30,000 or £250,000 a week, you’re going for the £250,000.”
Gascoigne was 33 when he signed for Everton and while he only found the net once in a 2-2 draw at the Reebok Stadium on November 3, 2001, he has vivid memories of being involved in some bruising Merseyside Derby encounters of his own. He said: “I just did a venue up there in Liverpool. A few fans came up and saw me.
“When I joined Everton, I’d had enough of football. But when I went there, I was still getting man-of-the-matches for them.
“When I scored, I hadn’t scored for ages. It was at Bolton away and when I scored, I was so excited.
“I ran behind the goal and celebrated towards the fans, and I realised it was the Bolton fans and I was like ‘oh no!’. I went back the other way and went over to the Everton fans.
“I enjoyed it at Everton, I think I managed to play in a couple of derbies. Steven Gerrard scored in one of them and he was unbelievable.
“But bless him, I gave him an elbow. He had a black eye and I was embarrassed because he’s such a nice guy.
“He put in his book and told everyone that Gazza gave him an elbow, so when I see him, I always tell him that I didn’t mean it. But yeah, I had good times at Everton.”
One of the 57-year-old’s favourite moments in a royal blue jersey was rolling back the years with a stunning FA Cup display against Leyton Orient but it’s some of the high jinx he used to get up to with the people that work at the club that he recalls most fondly from his time on Merseyside. Gascoigne said: “I remember how I turned it on in the cup game, but we didn’t play a big team. It was a third division team, and we battered them (4-1 in a fourth round tie on January 26, 2002).
“I mean my memories, because I used to go in at eight in the morning, I loved head tennis. We’d be in for training at 10am, but I used to go in for like half past eight because I used to challenge the ground staff to head tennis – with their wellies on!
“They used to beat us. They’d drive me nuts, and then sometimes I’d get wound up, that wound up, I wouldn’t play them.
“So, the staff are unbelievable. I really got on well with them, they were brilliant.
“It was the way they treated you, and I treated them like they were one of us. But yeah, I had some great times there.”