Everton captain James Tarkowski sung Jarrad Branthwaite's praises following the goalless draw at Tottenham Hotspur
Jarrad Branthwaite during the match between Tottenham Hotspur and Everton on September 12, 2026
Jarrad Branthwaite during the match between Tottenham Hotspur and Everton on September 12, 2026(Image: Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)
View Image
Everton captain James Tarkowski has named five attributes that make Jarrad Branthwaite an “amazing partner” at centre-back while claiming another member of the squad has come back “a different player” this season.
Branthwaite is the most valuable player in the Blues squad with club chiefs knocking back a brace of bids from Manchester United in the summer of 2024 when they slapped an £80million price tag on his head shortly after he had made his England debut.
Although the 24-year-old has struggled with injury issues since – a series of hamstring problems restricted him to just 10 appearances last season – Branthwaite has started all four of Everton’s Premier League matches so far this term and he helped them to maintain their unbeaten start with a second clean sheet in the competition in Saturday evening’s goalless draw at Tottenham Hotspur where his performance earned rave reviews.
When asked about the pair’s partnership, Tarkowski told Sky Sports: “We’ve sort of worked on that in time and Jazz is an amazing partner to have next to you. He’s as strong as an ox, rapid, brilliant on the ball, two footed and communicates really well.
Last year it was difficult for him. He didn’t play many games and missed a lot of football, but he’s come back fit and flying and you see tonight the quality he’s got, the amount of tackles and blocks he makes, but also, he’s very composed and comfortable on the ball. So hopefully that continues for him.”
Despite pocketing over £100million on deadline day with their most creative talent Iliman Ndiaye, last season’s top scorer Beto, Tim Iroegbunam and Nathan Patterson all sold, plus Adam Aznou loaned out, following the late collapse of the purchase of USA World Cup star Folarin Balogun from Monaco, Everton were left with a first-team squad that contains just one striker, one left-back and one right-back.
However, Tarkowski, who made his 150th Premier League appearance for the Blues at Spurs, believes there is an impressive spirit within the tight-knit squad with other players also emerging in the group. He said: “We talked about that Everton spirit before the game and I think we showed that today.
“We know all the noise that has happened around us over these last couple of weeks. The squad’s not massive, but it’s a strong squad. There’s lads in there that are young but have had a year to grow last season and we’re pretty confident in ourselves.
“So there’s a lot of noise, but internally, we’re striding to be ambitious and push and we’re not too concerned about that noise on the outside. “People have just got to chip in and do a job when they have to. We had some young players last year who were sort of growing and building, and this season they’ve really kicked on.
“I think Tyrique (George) is the biggest show of that. He’s come back a different player this year.
“He’s exciting, strong, runs with the ball really well, creative and he’s not the only one. There’s four or five in there just like that.”