Jarrad Branthwaite snub sparked fears of Everton transfer exit to arrogant Manchester United
Jarrad Branthwaite’s “controversial” exclusion from the England squad for Euro 2024 sparked fears that he would leave Everton for Manchester United, according to Joe Thomas.
The Liverpool Echo journalist wrote for the paper’s website on 6 July that the defender’s snub by Gareth Southgate led to “trusted and well-connected sources” telling him a transfer exit could be on the cards by the end of the month.
In the event Sir Jim Ratcliffe and INEOS saw an unacceptably low bid [David Ornstein, 14 June] rejected and the 21-year-old remains a Toffees player now as United have moved on towards Bayern Munich’s Matthijs de Ligt, to vindicate the insistence from “Goodison Park insiders” that only a “mega” offer would secure a deal.
And the behaviour of those at Old Trafford has not gone down well on Merseyside, with Thomas writing: “There has been a distinct air of arrogance from United when it has come to their pursuit of Branthwaite from their obvious and copious briefings regarding the situation.”
Everton frustrate Sir Jim Ratcliffe at Old Trafford
Managing to keep Branthwaite in the early part of the transfer window has come as part of a series of positive developments for the Toffees.
There were significant fears heading towards the end of the last season that the club would be powerless to resist approaches for any of their big names.
But sales of Lewis Dobbin and Ben Godfrey, coupled with cost-cutting measures behind the scenes [BBC Sport, 3 June], appear to have been sufficient to address lingering profit and sustainability concerns.
Clearly the expectation at Old Trafford was that there was a bargain to be had but the steadfast refusal to cave to a cut-price deal has helped increase positivity around Everton.
It surely won’t all be plain sailing throughout the summer as a potential Dominic Calvert-Lewin departure would be less palatable than the somewhat more planned exit of Amadou Onana [Alan Myers, 14June].
But in conjunction with moves that have already been made to bring in reinforcements, long before a desperate scramble ensues in the final days, Branthwaite not leaving is a relatively positive lot against a backdrop of Dan Friedkin’s expected takeover.
There is a long way to go yet but if Sean Dyche can make it through the transfer window with his star man still at the club it might be the best piece of work that is done all summer.
In other Everton news, an update has emerged on a trio of further incoming deals at Goodison Park.
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