Sky Sports pundit gushes over Jarrad Branthwaite for Everton v Crystal Palace, would walk into Manchester City team
Danny Mills has admitted that he thinks Everton defender Jarrad Branthwaite is good enough to play for Manchester City now after his performance during the Toffees FA Cup clash with Crystal Palace.
Sean Dyche’s side booked their place in the FA Cup fourth round with a 1-0 win over Roy Hodgson’s Palace on Wednesday (17 January) thanks to a wonderful first-half free-kick from Andre Gomes.
While the Portuguese’s exploits earned him plenty of praise from Mills, the Sky Sports pundit was more impressed by Braithwaite’s defensive performance, suggesting he should be part of England’s Euro 2024 squad and tipping him to fit into Pep Guardiola’s side at the Etihad.
Speaking on talkSPORT (17 January, 20:22) he said: “I know he’s young Branthwaite and I know this is his first season in the Premier League, but he’s played under-21s level, I’d be very, very tempted to take him [to Euro 2024] as that third, fourth choice centre-half.
“The way that he plays and because he’s played in Holland as well, he can play in a three as well. It’s not always a measure of how good a player is but teams like Real Madrid are being linked to Branthwaite. They’re not being linked to Mark Guehi and there’s a reason for that.
“If I look at Branthwaite, could he play in Manchester City’s side? Without a doubt. Just throw him in there tomorrow and he would fit in, no problem.”
Please don’t go
Everton fans will be delighted to see their centre-back receiving such praise as Branthwaite’s performances at Goodison Park this season have deserved more credit than they have received.
The Toffees defender certainly is deserving of a place in Southgate’s squad for this summer’s tournament and while there is a real possibility he’ll make the trip to Germany, supporters will be hoping that’s his only move in the summer.
Branthwaite’s performances won’t have gone unnoticed by teams higher up in the Premier League and should he continue at this level, the likes of Manchester City and Real Madrid may be knocking on the Goodison Park door to secure his services.
Hopefully, the Toffees will be able to keep hold of him, but at the moment it seems almost inevitable that he may not be an Everton player for too much longer.
In other Everton news, one journalist has sent a new message to supporters after a player took legal action against 777 Partners
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