Blackburn confirm Everton defender Branthwaite to have surgery
Blackburn Rovers have confirmed that Everton loanee Jarrad Branthwaite is set to undergo surgery on an ankle injury.
The 18-year old defender joined the Championship side in mid-January, making 10 league appearances before falling to injury in training last month.
Blackburn boss Tony Mowbray subsequently ruled out Branthwaite from making another appearance for the former Premier League winners before the end of the season.
Taking to Twitter, Blackburn confirmed that Branthwaite was set to undergo surgery on the injured ankle it what will be a blow for the central defender.
Everton had hoped to see Branthwaite pick up plenty of first-team experience with Rovers before returning to Goodison Park, with Carlo Ancelotti considering the “fantastic” starlet to be an important player for the club going forward.
Unfortunate ending
It’s a shame to see Branthwaite miss the remainder of the season because Everton would have hoped that he would end the campaign strong, but thankfully the injury sustained wasn’t too severe.
Branthwaite will likely need to wait a while before he can play first-team football again, and with this injury it remains to be seen whether he’ll get the chance to head out on loan against in the summer or if he’ll have to play fifth fiddle at Goodison Park.
Interestingly Everton have been linked with several defenders over the past few weeks, despite Ancelotti seemingly uninterested in signing another central option in that area of the pitch, but if he does renege on that stance then Branthwaite could find himself further from minutes at Goodison Park.
It’s within everyone’s interests, both those of Branthwaite and the club, for the player to recover quickly, to recover well and to get back out on loan, so hopefully everything goes well and without a hitch.
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