Everton to block Jake O’Brien transfer in January window
Everton will not allow Jake O’Brien to leave in the January transfer window despite loan interest, according to Simon Jones.
Writing in the print edition of The Daily Mail (2 January, page 62), Jones reported that the Toffees are unwilling to sanction a loan move despite interest from abroad.
The Telegraph has previously reported (30 December) that clubs from France, Germany and Italy have all registered their interest in the centre-back’s services.
Everton to block Jake O’Brien exit
O’Brien has made just two appearances for the Toffees this season, both of which came from the bench, after joining Sean Dyche’s side for £16.4million from Lyon in the summer.
With this in mind, you can understand why there is interest from elsewhere ahead of January and the 23-year-old would possibly be in favour of a move himself to get some minutes under his belt.
However, with Dyche looking ahead to a big second half of the season with the Blues, the boss cannot afford to let any of his defenders go with so only four senior centre-backs in the side.
The speculation over the future of Jarrad Branthwaite continues heading into the window and a potential departure for him would bring the Merseyside club a fee that could be reinvested into the squad.
However, to let O’Brien go at this stage would be poor planning from Dyche with the drawbacks of losing another defender far outweighing the benefit of getting him game time.
In other Everton news, Kevin Thelwell will be worried if Dan Friedkin spots a pattern with some of his signings at Goodison Park.
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