Sean Dyche has explained why he’s being cautious with Jarrad Branthwaite’s return to the side ahead of the trip to Leicester City after Everton rejected a brace of offers from Manchester United in the recent transfer window. Despite the Blues knocking back bids of £35million plus add ons and then £45million plus ad ons from the Red Devils for the centre-back, he is yet to kick a ball in a competitive fixture since he made his England debut against Bosnia and Herzegovina on June 3.
Everton insisted early this summer that they would not be bullied into selling England international Branthwaite on the cheap with claims of a Goodison Park ‘fire sale’ wide of the mark and were always actively planning for him to be 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, Everton consider Branthwaite to be in the same bracket, especially considering the premium for both left-footed defenders and homegrown talent.
Branthwaite has been out with what Dyche previously described as “a minor groin issue” but ahead of the Carabao Cup tie against Southampton the Blues boss admitted: “Jarrad has been longer than we’d hoped for, but the body is a strange thing.”
Despite only runners-up Arsenal having kept more clean sheets in the Premier League than Everton last season, Dyche’s men have badly missed ‘The Carlisle Kaiser’ so far this term, leaking 13 goals in their four consecutive defeats.
The 22-year-old is not expected to figure against the Foxes today, but he might get a run out alongside Nathan Patterson, who has also recently returned to training, for the Under-21s against their Sunderland counterparts in Southport on Sunday. Asked why he wouldn’t risk Branthwaite for the crucial fixture at the King Power Stadium as Everton search for their first points of the campaign, Dyche said: “Because my history in the game from the age of 16 has pretty much shown that every player that does that very rarely comes through it and continues playing.
