There used to be a time when players’ Everton futures were cast into doubt while away on international duty having been picked by the country but with Jarrad Branthwaite it’s the other way around. Romelu Lukaku is the Blues’ record Premier League scorer but the striker who is also a prolific polyglot, speaking at least seven languages at the last count, seemed to love talking about his next career move whenever he was away with Belgium.
The phenomenon of informal ‘tapping up’ by international team-mates from other clubs has been going on for years. In 2000, Nick Barmby’s controversial defection across Stanley Park after his England recall prompted the late Everton chairman Bill Kenwright to embrace his theatrical roots by uttering: “He had used six of the worst words in the English language as far as Everton fans are concerned. He has said: ‘I want to play for Liverpool.’”
Four years after that, it was Manchester United who came calling for Goodison Park’s most-gifted home-grown hero, teenage sensation Wayne Rooney. This time, Kenwright got his mother Hope in on the act to give Alex Ferguson a taste of his own medicine with some ‘hairdryer treatment’ (if that’s possible on a phone) as the Scouse nan berated the Scot down the other end of the receiver, telling him Rooney was worth £50million when her sobbing son complained: “They’re stealing our boy.”
Like Lukaku, who never signed that new Everton contract that his agent Mino Raiola insisted was “99.99999999% done,” Rooney would depart for Old Trafford. Blues must hope that the days of Manchester United taking what they want from them are now gone though.
In recent months, the penny-pinching antics of Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who has targeted the everyday hardworking club staff rather than overpaid, underachieving superstars for his economy drive, have become notorious with United fans who have staged several angry protests against his parsimonious policies. But last summer the fallen giants overestimated Everton’s financial predicament by seemingly thinking they could snatch Branthwaite at a knockdown price. For their part, the Blues insisted they would not be bullied into selling the England international on the cheap and were actively planning on having him with them this season unless a mega offer came in.
Given the £80million fee that Manchester United paid for Harry Maguire in 2019, the £75million Chelsea paid for Wesley Fofana in 2022 and the £77million Manchester City paid for Josko Gvardiol in 2023, Goodison Park chiefs considered Branthwaite to be in the same bracket, especially given the premium for both left-footed defenders and homegrown talent. Yet, as offers of £35million plus add ons and then £45million plus add ons were rejected out of hand by Everton, United were clearly briefing preferred media outlets with the party line that they wouldn’t be held to ransom.
But after the half-hearted attempt to nab a potentially generational talent for loose change in Premier League terms, United promptly shelled out over £90million on centre-back pair Leny Yoro from Lille and Matthijs de Ligt of Bayern Munich! As Evertonian Micky Bluey proclaimed though in a reply to a comment from this correspondent when United announced their ambitious plans to build a 100,000 capacity new home: “One week take the jam butties off the employees; the next week, build a £2billion stadium.”
It seems the (Red) devil makes work for idle hands though and looking for a headline during the international break, Sky Sports reported that Branthwaite is expected to consider his Everton future after being left out of Thomas Tuchel’s first England squad. It’s a curious notion to suggest that you won’t get the call from the Three Lions because you’re turning out for the Blues, but let’s have it right, it’s actually the biggest load of b******s since cult hero mascot Mr Testicles was gracing the Goodison Park turf.
The 22-year-old defender doesn’t have to look far to blow the theory out of the water, in fact just a mere 20 yards or so behind him on the pitch. Club colleague Jordan Pickford has been England’s undisputed number one since November 2017, winning all 75 of his caps while at Everton.
Indeed, with Marcus Rashford currently on loan at Aston Villa, while Pickford was turning out in the 3-0 win over Latvia at Wembley on Monday night, there were no Manchester United players in England’s starting line-up, or Manchester City, or Liverpool, for the first time since 1992. Next season, when the Blues move to their new 52,888 capacity home on the Mersey waterfront, they should be playing in front of the biggest regular crowds in their entire 147-year history and Branthwaite can be part of that under an ideal tutor in David Moyes, himself a former centre-back who enjoys a terrific track record when it comes to developing defenders.
Joseph Yobo was the Glaswegian’s first signing when he first arrived at Goodison back in 2002 and the Nigerian international, who went on to win 101 caps for the Super Eagles would go on to make 259 appearances for the club, a figure that only his future team-mates Tim Howard (414) and Tim Cahill (278) can top among players from outside the British Isles. Moyes signings Phil Jagielka (40 caps) and Joleon Lescott (26 caps) would both become England internationals.
Other acquisitions Sylvain Distin and John Heitinga – Everton Player of the Season in 2011/12 and now assistant coach to Arne Slot at Liverpool – enjoyed impressive stints at centre-back under the manager who steered the Blues to nine top eight finishes, including a highest-ever Premier League position of fourth, were rocks at the back in addition to those he inherited like David Weir and Alan Stubbs who thrived under him. Moyes of course also brought in the club’s best full-back pair of modern times, Leighton Baines and Seamus Coleman, with the latter arguably the best pound for pound signing in Premier League history with his famous ‘sixty grand’ fee.
Right now, ‘The Carlisle Kaiser’, who played over an hour captaining Lee Carsley’s England Under-21s in their 4-2 win over Portugal at the Hawthorns on Monday, is at the absolute best place to continue his progress and he’d do well to follow his own words uttered to young supporters ahead of Goodison’s Junior Fan Day earlier this month. Branthwaite said: “I think to play at Bramley-Moore as well, you can see how good the stadium is. So, to play there for Everton would be something I look forward to do as well.”