Branthwaite: 'I want Euro 2024 place even more now'

Jarrad Branthwaite says he is hoping his performances on the pitch for Everton will keep him in Gareth Southgate's thinking for when the time comes to select his England squad for this summer's European Championship Finals.

The rising Everton star was called up by Southgate for the recent friendlies at Wembley against Brazil and Belgium but failed to play a single minute, having to watch on from the bench without being given the chance to press his claims for a spot in the group that travels to Germany.

Branthwaite has earned plenty of admirers outside of Goodison Park, with Burnley boss Vincent Kompany singling him out for specific praise at the weekend, and former England international and now pundit, Matthew Upson, who was asked by Betway whether he thinks Brainthwaite deserves to make the England squad for Euro 2024.

"He deserves it in terms of how he's played in the Premier League, he's been brilliant," said Upson. "He's had a lot of action. He's got great instinct, and he is defending his box so well.

"It's just getting used to that different style because there's matches where you're so dominant, you're going from a team where you're defending for your life to controlling matches, being high up on the halfway line all the time. 

"The rest of it, he'll do comfortably. But it is just getting used to that international football. It's a very different style. He's got huge potential to be his top centre-back and play for England and really feature in the national team for sure."

Branthwaite, who was the outstanding performer in Everton's ugly but vital win over the Clarets on Saturday, says he wasn't given an explanation by Southgate for why he was overlooked but he intends to use it as motivation to keep showing his quality for the Toffees

“I think it was a good experience for me to be there," he told The Times. "[I was] disappointed I didn’t get on, but it is one of those things. For me, now, it is just concentrating on myself, playing at a good standard, which got me into that team, and hopefully by the summer I can get into the squad.

“It makes you want it even more to show how well you can perform on the pitch. I have got to continue doing that until the end of the season. I think if you perform well for your club, then you leave a question for the manager at the end of the season, and I think for me it is just focusing on playing for Everton and winning as many games as I can.”

Back at Everton, there is uncertainty around the 21-year-old's future and the Blues' own prospects given the threat of a further points deduction for breaching Premier League Profitability and Sustainability Rules (PSR)  and the associated threat of relegation.

True to character, the impressive Cumbrian, is just getting his head down and concentrating on what he can control.

“You have just got to block it all out,” Branthwaite continued in The Times when asked about the transfer speculation linking him to a number of high-profile clubs. “I think if you focus onthe outside stuff, you get distracted from what you need to do on the pitch. For me now, until the end of the season, I am just focused on winning games for Everton.

“I think once we find out what happens [with regard to the second PSR charge], we can put it to bed, but us as players can do our job on the pitch.

“It is out of our hands what happens off the pitch now. We have just got to stay focused, train hard every day and put in performances on the pitch which bring wins.”

 

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