Branthwaite signs new 4-year contract

''Jarrad Branthwaite has committed his long-term future to Everton by signing a new four-year contract with the Club until the end of June 2027.''

A lot depends on how he sees his future. If he wants to have a greater chance of playing weekly then he's better off with us as long as he is reasonably rewarded.

However, if he sees himself as wanting to earn a fortune and win multiple trophies, he's sadly better off elsewhere and probably playing less matches.

I just hope we can get 3 points tomorrow. We all need a boost!

When I was speaking to Jarrad's dad last week in the Harlech, he told me that Jarrad wanted to sign a new contract, because he loved playing with the group (First team), and also playing for the fans. The only stumbling blocks being that he had been given two offers, and both turned down because they were deemed not good enough.

He mentioned “The Club haven't got enough money”, so to get this new contract done is a great relief to us all. If we can keep him for at least another two years and see how he develops, then obviously his value will increase massively. And you never know, things could change drastically and he will want to stay beyond 2027. 🤞🤞🤞

Nice to have a bit of positivity to comment on.
Having said that, if we don't get the 3 pts tomorrow it is back to doom and gloom.

We only paid £1m so I guess Carlisle will benefit from a future sell-on too.

This kid is so freaking good. He makes John Stones, at a similar age back in the day, look pedestrian.

Not to piss on anyone's parade, but I will bet good money this contract was signed knowing Jarrad will be leaving at season's end, ensuring we get top dollar for him.

I think if he stays he could easily be the best Everton CB I've seen in my Blue life. He'd need to pip Jagielka to win that honor in the end, and seeing this kid play I think he could easily accomplish that. Big, great feet, strong, field positioning and awareness, all of it this kid has in spades.

Pray we keep him for years to come, doubt we will, but either way this is fantastic news we've locked him up in a multi-year contract.

He's going to be better than Stones for sure and he's turned out okay.

Great news!

What wasn't reported was that Thelwell told him we'd start paying his salary in instalments beginning in 2026. Absolute bargain!!!

I've always referred to him as “Bran Flake”…😏

He has a guaranteed starting place in our team to develop as a young player and, with Tarkowski, he is part of a good solid centre-back pair. He is comfortable here and likes the place.

Jarrad appears to be a level-headed guy and It isn't beyond sense to give it a couple of seasons with us. Who knows with a new stadium, new owners and the hope of sunlit uplands and all that, he might stay for longer and become a club legend in the Seamus mould. Or have I taken one too many?

The below is the icing on the cake:

“There is no release-clause in Jarrad Branthwaite's new deal, and the Club have an option of a further 12 months.”

He seems very respectful of the club considering its position. May this work to his ultimate benefit and continue to improve our transfer market reputation.

It doesn't all need to come from exotic overseas markets either. Plenty of talent in the lower leagues, Scotland and (as Brighton have found with Moran and Ferguson) Ireland.

A season or two of regular football with us is better than getting splinters in his arse at a “big” club. And with us he'll get plenty of defending practice!

I don't think Carlo or Brands had even heard of him, but Carlo must have seen something in him – if memory serves me right he actually played him in a few games even though he was a complete baby by centre-half standards.

Conflicting reports suggest he was signed for anything between £0.5 and 1M. I suspect it was nearer the latter as I see reports claiming Carlisle turned down our initial offer of half a million.

Someone earlier compared him to a 21-year-old John Stones. Understandable comparison. Both supremely confident young men. If he turns out as good as Stones, we either have ourselves a great footballing centre-half, or we demand a huge fee next time one of the super rich clubs come calling.

Win-win.

Explaining the sense of understanding he has with the 60-year-old, Branthwaite told PSV: “Marcel signed me from Carlisle for Everton and we've had a really good connection since then, not just with me but my agent and family as well. Once he phoned me and said PSV wanted me to come, it was a no-brainer. I have trust in him and it's a great club."

We've rightly bitched about Everton's recruitment over the past few years but we've also made some really astute buys, Branthwaite being one of them.

The team needs to be upwardly mobile to retain existing talent and attract more.
If is a massive word. Aunty, balls, uncle etc. I can't help think how we would appear very upwardly mobile compared to recent seasons had we took some of the glut of good chances vs Fulham, Wolves and Luton. But we did not, so we are where we are.

Tomorrow is an acid test I think. The 'luck' must change tomorrow. Big Branthwaite to notch a celebratory goal tomorrow in a handsome win, ever the optimist me. I have faith and belief it shall come to fruition tomorrow. COYB.

The key, as his head is repeatedly turned (contracts are just recompense for seller now), can we keep him?

I pray so but he is a piece in much bigger jigsaw.

Picture not great on box just now but not as bad as we many think in the 2:00 am horror time!

Ever the misguided optimist!

If Everton want be successful and make a statement going into their new ground, keep hold of Branthwaite, Patterson, Garner and Onana. Then build around them, don't sell out to the top four clubs or top teams abroad.

Though sadly I highly doubt he'll still be here in 3-4 years time. Our financial state is such that our best players will have to be sold. My guess would be Onana leaving next summer and Branthwaite heading off summer 2025. We may well get £70M+ for him. The key will be how we replace him.

We have to try and find more of these types of players, gems from here or abroad who can develop with well-chosen loans and then minutes in the Premier League that bigger teams might not offer. This is exactly what Brighton do.

And you're right of course. Somewhere among all those squandered millions there have been a few precious gems unearthed.

I looked back at Branthwaite's time at Carlisle. The general consensus was to let him go at around 14 or 15 years old. "He was quiet, unassuming and generally perceived as a bit of a stroller."

Darren Edmondson (Carlisle academy coach) stuck his neck out and insisted they kept him on.

Once He forced his way into the first team, word got around and a number of Premier League teams started sniffing. Our academy coaches had watched him and had urged Brands to sign him. Brands made the call.

Edmondson explains: "Several Premier League clubs rang to ask about him but I told them to make a concrete offer. Only one did."

Lord knows what Branthwaite would be doing if it wasn't for Darren Edmondson. Makes you wonder how much talent is allowed to drift out of the game.

I don't understand why we don't sign more young players from the lower leagues because that's where quite a few of the future Premier League players must come from.

I honestly didn't think Branthwaite would play another game for Everton once he went on loan to PSV because you could already see the kid had talent and you can see the way Everton has gone full circle with regards to being absolutely skint once again.

We have now got some very good young players imo, so hopefully the club will be sold to people with a real thought-out plan, who will start by bringing in some much-needed stability.

However, it has been really sad to read this thread because most people are only going on about now being able to sell him for a much better fee instead of hoping that we can start to build a much better team with this nucleus of talent amongst our younger players.🤞

Not so long ago, we couldn't afford to buy anyone, and nobody would sign for us anyway, and all the young guns wanted out.

Thank you, thank you, Jarrad.

He should learn to put his boot through the ball and clear his lines. Nowhere near deserves the praise he's getting.

Helmet on prepare for Roberta. 🙄

I don't know what to do…

To me he has looked composed in some games – in others, he looks like he's got a lot to learn.

Just signed and some of our fans have already got him as a future Man Utd or Man City captain.

I'll wager these are the same people who said Tom Davies was going to be an England regular for years to come. That ended well, didn't it?

Moan...obviously!

Jarrad's contract was due to expire in June 2025 (activating the 1 year Club Option inclusive), so this extension tagged on an extra 3 years in total (including another 1 year Club Option), based on the report by the Athletic.

Tremendous work by Thelwell again on strengthening the value of arguably one of the Club's crown jewels (Pickford & Onana being the others, IMHO. Calvert-Lewin will re-join the list if he can play 30+ games with 15 goals across all competitions in a full season). Armed with no Minimum Fee Release Clause, we can now safely ask for at least £80M (full, lump sum payment in one go!) if any clubs in the world sniff around (yes, including those folks at Riyadh).

Of course, despite my brain telling me that we should not have a "Not for Sale" tag on top of Jarrad, given our precarious financial situation, my heart still wants to see him (and Onana) being the core of the club when we move into the new stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock. (Quick tangent: between the 2 of them, who would you want to see as the future Captain?) This extension gets us closer to that.

Grade = A-

Decent article from The Athletic on his arrival at the club and his earlier development. Jamie Hoyland is credited with being the lead scout in the recruitment of both Jarrad and DCL.

Jarrad Branthwaite has given Everton a decision to make in central defence

Luton clearly targeted both Mykolenko and Branthwaite at the corner kicks and there was a lot of holding down of the Everton defenders. I think in that situation, they were out-witted and will learn from the experience, and were possibly not helped by Dyche's tactics for defending corners.

I commented that they'll both have to learn the darker arts of defending.

Jarrad will no doubt make more mistakes. We'll have to be patient with him. Sorry, forgot, we generally as fans have no time for patience.

Had his toughest game against Luton, was a real battle all game, these are the games and times he will learn from, so we still have to be patient, he will make mistakes the important thing is he learns from games like Luton.

Going to have a bet he scores today !!

That's how I see it.

Steady progression from the lad and he is the next saleable asset to keep the wolf from the door allowing "wash, rinse, repeat" to replace nsno as the club motto

I can't see any comments that seem ridiculous apart from the one making the entirely obvious point that a 21-year-old defender will have plenty to learn.

Nevertheless, I believe it when I say I am confident that he is top class and will, barring injury, play at the highest level. I'm just hoping he gets to do it playing for Everton.

I've been saying the same since first seeing him play his first match for our U23s.