Everton reject insultingly low Manchester United bid for Branthwaite

If true how the fuck can they do that before reaching agreement with the club over the transfer fee?

So wrong, again if true, when a player is under contract to a club.

I would rather take the points deduction resulting from an overspend than sell him just to balance the books.

I'd rather take a 3-point deduction and keep him for another season rather than sell on the cheap.

I also fear for him. He won't have Tarkowski with him who he has learned a lot from and might not have that same rapport whomever is with him at Man Utd.

£70M is an insult as well. Hope there is a sell-on clause. We'd better not be getting Maguire.

Shame we could not keep him for another season.

How many points is Jarrad Branthwaite worth? Should we take a 3-point deduction? And call me old fashioned but agree the fee before the player agrees terms. Yes, we have a 30 June deadline, but it just weakens our negotiating position.

Keep Jarrad Branthwaite and take the points deduction.

I thought we owed Carlisle 10% of the fee, but the Daily Mirror are saying it's 15% which makes £70M (or less) absolutely derisory for a player of Branthwaite's ability and potential.

Let's hope another club come in for him and price Man Utd out of the deal.

Pathetic if we let Ratcliffe get away with a lowball offer.

In the end, they could have taken 20 points off of us this season and we would have survived (that's amazing when you think about it, isn't it?!).

Admittedly that was down to how terrible the Bottom 3 were though. Safety might be up around the 40-point mark again next season.

Can these twats even do basic maths? The worst bit is, the useless cunts will spew the money on a load of garbage, as per usual. They literally can't wait to sell, this lot.

Keep him for one more season – his value isn't going to decline at such a young age. Absolutely maddening. Still the worst run club in English football, by a fucking mile.

Last season, we more than survived, and proved how invaluable it is to have a group who are together and fighting for us. A lot of those players can improve us again, and by adding a few more decent players to them, next season could be an even better one.

Do a Man City. Do whatever it takes to avoid the grasp of Masters and the Premier League, regarding financial rules, until such times we are solvent with new owners.

The club sale won't help with PSR and failing to comply this year would probably cause an issue with the sale as we'd be looking at another points deduction. The bottom 3 next year will likely not be anywhere near as bad as last season.

I just hope that it's £70M cash and Maguire is nowhere near the deal. Man Utd have loads of players they want out – please just take cash.

However, if the Club are of a mind to sell, it appears they've put an £80M price tag on him. He shouldn't go for a penny less.

None of this, so much if he plays so many games, so much if he wins a league or cup etc.

£80M as a fee plus add-ons.

Although, as others have said – I'd rather take the hit on the points

After the situation this season, any blatant and deliberate breach is likely to result in very serious sanctions – much worse than this year (and indeed we might get points deductions this year anyway due to our ongoing financial situation).

Otherwise, the message would be that the Premier League rules do not really apply anymore and you can do what you like.

So maybe 15 points? 20 points? And a continued toxic relationship with the Premier League. We obviously won't do that and nor would any other club in our situation.

It isn't a sign of ongoing incompetence at the club – it's a legacy of previous incompetence biting us on the arse.

It's simple really: sell one of your best players cheaply by 30 June or get another points deduction. PSR in a nutshell.

Whatever happened to "tapping up"? Why the hell are BBC so blatantly undermining our player?

Apart from the new stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock, Branthwaite is the club's most valuable asset, so why on earth would any new owner sanction his sale???

Prepare to feel absolutely mugged by losing a rising star cheaply courtesy of PSR. Personally, I'd take the 3 points and it can't be more as a legal precedent has been set by Forest and us after appeal.

“Any blatant and deliberate breach is likely to result in very serious sanctions.”

How can keeping your best young players be regarded as a deliberate breach?

The Premier League is being run solely for the benefit of the rich clubs. Remember the League spokesman saying that Leicester winning the Premier League was ‘bad for football' because it affected the revenue from the Far East?

Football has been ruined. Rules regarding tapping up are routinely disregarded because it's usually the Rich Six that are hoovering up the young talent to prevent rivals getting them, only to send them out on loan after loan without any real thought for the young players' future. Unless he's like Branthwaite, exceptional.

The worst run club in the Premier League!

That would be classic Everton.

Can things get any worse? Probably.

If he goes with no funds for rebuilding, if I was Dyche, I'd walk. His stock is high at the moment, he could get a stable Premier League job now; why try to pull off an even greater miracle by trying to keep an even worse squad up?

With Godfrey not signing a new contract and Calvert-Lewin still not having signed a new contract, wouldn't it have made sense to sell these players first before Branthwaite, who has just signed a 4-year deal with no get-out clauses?

As for holding out for £70M with only 16 days left before the accounts deadline, we may have to accept a hell of a lot less for a player who I believe will be an England regular for years to come.

For fuck's sake, mate, a ball hasn't been kicked in the Euros yet — never mind the Premier League.

We are not in a strong bargaining position, skint and the player probably wanting to play for the 'great' Man Utd.

My question: Is Branthwaite as good as he has been talked up to? I'm not sure.

The way things are, though, I think we should ask for £100M and look to get £80M; it's worth a try – there's more than Man Utd interested.

It is clear that Onana is keen to leave and hopefully he will enhance his value in the Euros, so why should we consider selling Branthwaite and how can personal terms have been (illegally) agreed? The BBC as usual is regurgitating dross from the tabloids and Football Insider etc.

An article in yesterday's Telegraph suggested that Manure's transfer funds will be relatively limited: “perhaps as low as £50M” and that Ratcliffe was horrified by the excessive fees paid for Antony and other flops.

Kenwright gave Rooney away for £26M to keep himself afloat as owner, not to keep the club afloat. Branthwaite is our finest prospect since Rooney and with the sale of the club at endgame I don't see any reason to sell our most valuable asset. He certainly wouldn't be advancing his career at Man Utd.

Sad – and so it carries on that we are a feeder club for them...

Everton will come out and state "We had no choice, with no firm offers from other teams for Jarrad or any of the current 1st team on the table. We have been warned we will face further sanctions for PSR and the possibility of administration cannot be discounted, given the ongoing shambles of trying to sell the club. This despite some really good offers to buy laying in Moshiri's In-Tray." Sorry folks that's all for now!!

ps: Comparing his sale value to that of Maguire's transfer is a bloody insult and the rest of it proves beyond doubt how "fixed" the Premier League is.

pps: I've said this before but, if Southgate turns up at Old Trafford as their next manager, the whole thing stinks. Jarrad playing for England in the Euros would have put his price up even more and would have brought more bidders to the table. How on earth anybody thinks Dunk, Guehi and Gomez are better is beyond belief. Being in the squad would have stopped a sale before 30 June too, giving EFC the chance to play real hardball. It might even explain Man Utd keeping hold of Ten Hag.

"Know when to hold, know when to fold, know when to walk away, and know when to run".

Is Thelwell that good or should we be seeking some sponsorship from those willing to purchase the club?

The FA have stated there have been no approaches for Southgate. Ten Hag has been retained. Southgate is too negative for club management.

We need to keep Jarrad and alas sell Onana, who will become a very good player – just maybe not with us.

I think Dyche is the one person I don't want to leave Everton FC at the present time. Stability is what's needed now; Dyche has provided that over the last 18 months and I believe he will continue to do that.

Raymond (29),

Why are you surprised that Pickford is still an Everton player?

A lot of the top clubs have bought goalkeepers in the last few years… none have bid for Pickford even though he has been England's ‘keeper for many years.

He's on an excellent contract at Everton and seems more than happy here. I don't think there has been any big demand by other clubs to sign him which doesn't really surprise me.

It was £85m not long ago. Stories about the fee we'll accept seems to be going down by £5m every few days.

Absolutely embarrassing!! Ratcliffe must be rubbing his hands!!

Don't be embarrassed. The figures are plucked out of the air by the media.

I'd bet a fair wedge that it's not the club putting those figures out.

If that is the case, it makes the fact that Jarrad was bumped even more annoying.

The fact we could get £70M for him is a good deal to me. I'm sure this is how Carlisle fans felt when we took Jarrad off them. We just need to go and buy the next Jarrad from another club.

Unless fame goes to his head. he is going to be an amazing player; solid defenders are hard to find.

That does seem odd because you would like to think players would be concentrating on the football but life goes on.

Unfortunately, unless Man City, or a “big” European club enter a bid, then United will have the upper hand at the negotiating table – purely because they know our financial situation and the likely penalties for another breach of PSR.

Remember Lescott and Stones; same scenario only worse because of the PSR situation which no doubt Ratcliffe will take full advantage of.

I just hope we don't get one of their discards.

A non-challenging club of moderate means gets a decent player or two and Boom!! they're gone. You can't build a team around vanished players.

After that, the lottery of replacement for lesser money begins and it's wash, rinse, and repeat until fans get fed up and the board and manager come under pressure and the entire edifice crumbles.

The successor to Moshiri needs more than street smarts in business – they need big pockets – I mean huge!!

Avoiding going bust. That hopefully seems to be averted now by the amount of interested parties emerging for the takeover. But please don't expect a new set of owners to pump money into the club for transfers. There will still be player sales.

Generating funds for the acquisition of players. The sell-to-buy approach seems to be very much hated on this site. Some of that is probably a "keeping up with the Joneses" mentality – where selling to a mediocre Man Utd side just reinforces how far we've fallen.

Some of this is because we have a track record of atrocious bad spending between about 2016 and 2020 in particular. However, whether we sell Branthwaite or not, we have to become much, much better at player trading (including the sales side) if we are to get back into Europe etc.

Anyway, we all know Branthwaite will be sold and possibly for less than his true value. If so, I just hope people blame the real culprits of Kenwright and Moshiri rather than Dyche and Thelwell.

We are stifled by all kinds of fiscal restrictions so I'd be looking for a couple of fringe players, say £60-65M plus Hannibal Mejbri (who we wanted last year) and perhaps Diallo or Shoretire on loan. It would help keep the powder dry.

He is pure class and a joy to watch. He will only get better.

I'm not sure about us being a feeder club for Manchester United. Without going on Google, I can't see past Rooney.

I think most of the transactions have been the other way them offloading their players on us. It would not surprise me to see this happen.

Whatever happens, just make sure Sean Dyche gets a slice of the cake to reinvest in an already thin squad.

If Man Utd don't to want pay Branthwaite's worth, we need to try and get a fringe player as a sweetener.

I suggested Diallo and cash earlier in the thread, but Hannibal might be more viable, given we wanted him last season and he seems to be more on the periphery at Old Trafford.

I don't know how keeping a young player “breaches” any rule. As yet, Masters and his sort aren't in a position to tell us who we have to sell. Yet.

What is really pissing me off is that arse Ratcliffe thinking he can dictate how much we are to ask for Branthwaite. I'm not impressed with Branthwaite or his agent for entering into discussions about his transfer. I can only assume that there are no longer any rules regarding tapping-up of players.

Okay, it's always been rumoured to be going on, but I don't recall anything as blatant as this before. I would like Everton to make an official complaint just to irritate Ratcliffe et al and not just bend over for our regular shafting.

I hope its not a case of us believing we have 2 very good defenders ready to step in- Michael Keane and Ben Godfrey who is soon to be out of contract, so it softens the blow.

Its more than selling are best players even with psr threats and other debts. The Club will have to make a stand sometime or continue to have vultures circling. By refusing to sell as low as we can go, maybe it shows we wont be trampled on.

The only hardball played by Everton in recent years was Moyes with City for Lescott after that we just seem to accept it and roll over.–

How the fuck can personal terms be agreed before a Club has agreed to sell?

(It keeps them out of their rivals' teams anyway and stops teams like Everton getting too successful.)

I hope City win their 'freedom' case and bugger off to Europe with the other 'top teams' whilst we get back to real competition – VAR-less and all!

I'm just surprised that a goalkeeper of his ability has not been a target for one of the top 6 clubs. At least I've not seen any rumours etc of him being a target.

He probably is happy to stay with us, I wasn't suggesting otherwise, he is behind a good defence and still England No 1, I hope he stays.

We won't get more than £80M for him because non-Evertonians simply don't know him as well or rate him as highly as Evertonians.

Not sure he'd be available but I rate Willy Kambwala and maybe £60M + him would be a decent deal for both teams? They could include a £35M buy-back clause or similar.

Sad to see Branthwaite go but, unless we get a good offer on Onana before the end of the month, then it seems a necessary evil.

Thelwell and Dyche should insist on keeping the youngest and best left-sided centre-back in Britain. The best part of our team this season, and the reason we conceded so little, which kept us in the Premier League was the Tarkowski & Branthwaite partnership.

It'll be a total disgrace if he's sold; sell Onana. Why should we accept £65M, are we that desperate? His price tag should be £100M, isn't that what Maguire cost, and Carlisle are due 15%.

I'd prefer a points reduction. If he goes, it's a sad day and fuck Moshiri.

I give you Fellaini and Lukaku.

That's not to say there won't be any in the future, but I'm also hearing there are a few clubs interested in him.

It's football. It has always been the way.

Let's see what happens with Branthwaite.

It's that that time of year.

Apologies, the clue was in feeder remark!

If this does happen we will all be disappointed and may end up with Harry Maguire!!

I think Martinez played hardball with Chelsea over John Stones. I remember the Chelsea fan (one of Paul Hawksbee and Andy Jacobs) on Talkshite saying "He's coming to Chelsea, it's definite". He ended up staying for another year and then going to City and winning everything. . . so you can't blame him really.

Jarrod should hold out for a more successful club than United, they are in a mess at the moment. I can see City coming in for him when they have "done with" Dias and Stones.

As far as "agreeing terms," I guess the thing with that is you have the agent factor. Clubs can't (supposedly even though we hear so many tales of Fergie calling players up at home etc down the years) talk to players without clubs permission. But what is to stop them talking to the agent and gauging what the player is on and what the player (AKA agent) would expect IF or when the player were to move?

This story though is a bit weird because for weeks we've been hearing how Utd have no money to spend, and cutting costs, and more recently "baulked" at Everton's demands. Now suddenly they supposedly decided to offer a big sum (albeit one less than we might want." Not suggesting there is no hint of truth in it but the media tend to say things are in the bag. e.g. various parties having "bought" the club, kenyon's group, msp, 777, Samuelson, etc none of which came to pass.

I'd like the club to make a stand, if this is all true, and dig in for a huge cash fee and sell-on clause, especially if Jarrad doesn't really want to leave.

Football business stinks, but we need to avoid the drop next season so positive PSR will help. Then perhaps we can hang on to our best players at the new stadium and start to recover.

I feel sad that we are in this position now, huge thanks to our ‘world class' leadership team of the past.

Why can we never do a Liverpool or Brighton and demand top dollar and get it! Yet again underselling.

Rooney, Richarlison and now Branthwaite. Should be no less than £90M. Man Utd paid a fortune for Maguire, for fuck's sake!

I'm told our new badge is the ToffeeLady bent over with her skirts hitched up with the new motto "Welcome Man Utd!"

Serial winners, brilliant coaches, nice weather, good food.

Probably paper talk, but that's clear tapping up when no fee has been agreed.

How can you stand your ground on a fee, if that's been done?

£35M for fuck's sake!

Cheers, mate. I trust your word!

"How could I have known Man Utd were going to buy him? Fool, Gareth, you bloody fool!"

We know Man Utd want Jarrad, who doesn't, but I would hope there is no way we sell him unless it's an outrageous bid which an arrogant prick like Ratcliffe will not sanction.

I'm just glad Black Bill isn't involved in any negotiations.

Oh, I forgot — and a 10% selling-on fee.

The grass isn't always greener.

Man Utd have planted the story with the media to unsettle the player. Their half-witted belief is that Branthwaite will push for a move and drive down the fee towards their derisory £35 million bid.

They are a joke of a club, so why would he choose them?

Offer a £1 million for Mainoo.

It's a bigger/richer club preying on smaller fish kicking off with a low bid to test the needy. It's what happens these days.

Surely he'll hold out for Carlo's bid! :)

Are they allowed to speak with our player when he is under contract with us? Without asking for permission?

Typical Man Utd, total lack of any class.

Swap deal:- Branthwaite for Mainoo and Rashford?

£35M - who the fuck does this Jim Radcliffe think he is? What a gobshite. EFC are in trouble so let's make hay!!!

He also wants the taxpayer to pay for a new updated Old Trafford! You couldn't make it up.

If Eberton sell Jarrad for less than £80M plus add-ons, they've certainly bent over and lowered their pants. Tell them to do one and say until they get serious and really serious we won't be picking up the phone.

I'd rather take a points sanction than sell him for bloody peanuts. As I said, what a gobshite. Piss off.

If they want to insult, let them know they paid £57M for a older untested at the time Martinez and more for Mcguire,

Do not respond, do not engage, treat it with the contempt it deserves. Do not be drawn in by idiots. If we are going to sell then name your price and stick to it.

It's realpolitik. Don't feel insulted. The only thing that matters is how the club responds not any of us.

So, right now my main concern is who on earth is calling these shots at the club. If it is the absentee landlord then expect Jarrad to go for somewhere in the middle of £35M/£80M.

The Old Trafford people are simply taking advantage of a club that from the outside (and inside) is in ownership limbo, has no clear decision-making, and, to cap it all, are desperate for £££££££.

There's nothing immoral or inappropriate about this. It's just the post-1992 world of Premier League cut and thrust financial and administrative acumen and aggression that we have been historically shite at.

Branthwaite looks like the centre-back of his generation and even at £80M would be a bargain. If I was him, the only clubs I'd consider would be Real Madrid or Man City as Man Utd are almost as much of a shambles as we are!

How can we ever compete at the top end if we're constantly feeding them our best players at bargain prices?

Thanks, Bill Kenwright. This is your true legacy.

In Man United's case, the price should increase to £100M for the cynical attempt to take advantage of our PSR situation.

This, with today's ownership news, could well allow us to say no to any Branthwaite bid, but there are too many balls being juggled in the air at the same time right now for any real certainty or clarity.

Oh, and by the way, there has been no communication between Branthwaite and the red shite Mancs.

"£35M…….hahaha….fuck me, my house is worth more than that."

You're not one of the mystery bidders for the club are you?

A joke of a club who have won 2 trophies in the last 2 years!!
Wish to God we could be a joke of a club?

We need to keep Branthwaite but, if we do sell, then no less than £80M plus extra when he plays for England 50 times!!

Currently, under FIFA and FA transfer rules, if a club wants to procure the services of a player registered with another club, they must speak directly with that club and not to the player or his representatives. The player and his representatives will only be brought in for discussions with the potential purchasing club once the two clubs have agreed a fee.

Often a club wishing to buy a player from another club will contact the player directly to try and persuade him to join them should a bidding war for that player ensue. Also, if the club wishing to sign the player feels his current club would be unwilling to sell, they may contact the player to unsettle him at his current club and thus persuade him to hand in a transfer request.

The footballer's representatives are likely to have a big involvement in setting up a meeting between the club and his player. The player's agent will be the first port of call for the club wishing to gain the services of the player and often it is the agent which makes the first contact with potential clubs touting the services of the player he represents.

Article 22 of the FIFA Players' Agents Regulations prohibits a player's agent from approaching any player who is under contract to a club with the aim of persuading him to terminate his contract prematurely or to violate any obligations stipulated in the employment contract. It shall be presumed, unless established to the contrary, that any players' agent involved in a contractual breach committed by the player without just cause has induced such breach of contract.

The Telegraph is incorrect – so far – on any agreement between the player and Man Utd. A number of other clubs are also very interested, so Man Utd need to show how serious they are for a bid to be accepted.

With the news tonight on Friedkin agreeing a deal in principle with Moshir, I'd rather see Onana and even (plus) Calvert-Lewin go, and use Jarrad as a bedrock for the future.

If things in other areas can move quickly, I think he could well stay – if the club itself start sitting down with the lad, and give him re-assurances about our ambition including him. That, however, is not, to my belief, happening at the moment.

He'll also have an agent who's devoted to lining his own pocket asap by way of what he, the agent, will contend as a mega-deal by signing for any one of the "big" clubs (after all, Jarrad could bin him next month couldn't he – hence the agent's haste).

I just hope Jarrad takes a leaf out of Jordan's experience and chooses, as the very young man he is, to go on gaining regular selection in an excellent defensive unit in an otherwise bog-standard Premier League club from which, in two or three seasons, he'll be able to more or less select which top club he chooses to sign for, thereby becoming ludicrously wealthy, and trophy-laden too.

Man Utd are not a club to deliver top trophies in the next two or three seasons at least.

I imagine Dyche, Thelwell and even Chong can't offer assurances due to the ownership fiasco but hopefully they changes asap.

Jarrad Branthwaite seems like a level-headed young man… and agreed – I'd sooner cash in on others.

The Premier League with their so-called financial fair play will see to it we won't see anything over £55M for him (more like £45M or £50M plus bonus) when we have the right to a bigger fee like Fafana, Maguire etc.

Need to bin off Godfrey etc before the end of the month and dig our heels in or keep our contracted player.

Take a breath. No way he goes for £55 million. Not a chance.

Sell someone else, Onana would be my choice.

I would raver take the hit by the PSR, instead of selling him to avoid it. He will play for England for a long time, we could never buy a player of his ability and nor would a player of his ability want to play for Everton at the present time.

We have to start standing our ground and show we are a big club once again, and like Man City our next major signing is the best lawyers we can get to have the Premier League heavies running around in circles instead of us.

Unless the player forces it, don't sell.

If he does, get the right value worthy of his talent and potential.

That wouldn't even buy his right sock.

For the conspiracists among us could it be that that story has come out to put indirect pressure on Man Utd, as in if we sell Onana we won't suffer under PSR so aren't desperate to sell Branthwaite?

Further fuel to the theory could be the announcement of a record kit and sponsorship deal with Castore.

Correct of course, but there are so many ways to put the feelers out without without actually talking to the player.

I don't think Man Utd would dare contact JB directly but I suspect the boy (and his agent) already have a very good idea of the package they are offering.

I look at the list Bill @92 puts up off the top of his head and I'm reminded that none of those players needed to be dragged kicking and screaming out of Goodison. You can ask a player for another season (like Carlo did with Richarlison) but, if they can earn more money at a club offering them a better chance of medals… they're off.

The wolves are at our door. Man Utd know this. We desperately need another club to step in and start a bidding war. Otherwise, I fear they could well get away with daylight robbery.

If that big tosser Maquire was worth £80M 4 years ago, £35M x 2.5 + Carlisle's 10% is not too unreasonable.

Brilliant post, though. No, really.

[*eye roll*]

"Is that all they think I'm worth, feck em!!!"

He's already told the administrative staff at Man Utd that they have to be in the office five days a week or they can fuck off. No exceptions. He takes it personally when people challenge his authority and would rather miss out on a deal than feel he's paying over the odds.

In other words, he won't pay the asking price. Either Jarrad doesn't go to Man Utd, or we sell him on the cheap.

I think Jarrad will go, and good luck to the lad, but for the moment this is just the usual 4th estate spun bollocks.

Would love us to dig our heels in and say no and take the PSR hit - look at Forest and Brennan Johnson, they held out for a decent value rather than sell before the deadline and the points deduction for them was tiny. Like others have said, he is worth more points to us playing for us than we would lose through PSR rules.

If we sell him for less than £70m we’ve been done

Right so he’s got £390k for the last year and has a contract that runs another three years. He is the definition of wealthy. What a bizarre argument.

Yes, he'll go and, if that offer of £35M was made, it's business. I agree with your terms and I hope we get that much, he will be missed.

For those saying tell Man Utd to do one, don't they think Jarrad has a say in this? If the lad wants to go, and he'd be foolish not to; he'll go – unfortunately.

Who knows, Brazil may be looking for somebody who can play the lone target man role.

I hope the new consortium can be persuaded to pay the money for him to stay.

I say Man Utd can have Michael Keane for £35 million instead.

Do we need to sell one or two before the deadline?

Hope we can raise enough through selling Godfrey and Onana who want away regardless.

Man Utd can offer untold riches, but they are a mixed bag of talent and duds, god knows how they won anything under Ten Hag, the least likeable manager since Sir Purple Nose. The stadium needs huge investment, not necessarily smooth sailing.

Hold firm, EFC, this lad is the new Bobby Moore; it'd be nice if he decided to be a one-club man!! We can dream.

Also, nothing spent on transfers apart from Danjuma's loan fee. If we are over, I think it will be less than last year; don't sell – take the hit.

Although we are all of the same opinion on wanting to keep Jarrad, as some have said, if he really wants to go, he will go.

We just have to play hardball and hold out for the best deal possible.

We'll only get fined 6 points for falling short in last year's accounts – that's just two games to win and then we start our season proper and we still have 'gold' in the ranks!

This, I should imagine has to be done by the end of this month.

So, as some have said, take the hit, keep Branthwaite and tell the red shite Mancs to do one. If all six clubs do the same, then it should be fun watching Masters and his cronies sort that little lot out, though no doubt Chelsea will be let off.

I think it would be another double jeopardy situation resulting in a 2-point penalty.

I also think there'll be others who start the season with a higher points deduction.

Great minds, Rob, only saw your post after I'd done mine. 👍💙

And in all likelihood, if the other teams buy anyone off these clubs, then those clubs will violate PSR too.

Man City will claim that, under the statute of limitations (doesn't exist but they'll invent one), the case against them has expired.

Feck them.

I thought the same, buy the naming rights for BMD for say, £50m, and keep Branthwaite.

This is on the basis that if Legohead was worth £80m 4 years ago and much later in his career then Branthwaite who is only 21, left footed and is already a very accomplished centre half at such a young age then £100m is a bargain in comparison for a player that could be the mainstay for club and country for the next decade.

That should not be too hard Karl. We are the world champions at that and could teach Manchester Utd a few things.

Have threatened to walk away… jeez, you'd think they were doing us some kind of favour. Just tell them to Fuck off!

Their £43M now includes £8M add-ons, which they consider can easily be achieved.

We should be aiming higher than a Toyota sponsorship deal.

Lexus maybe?

I burst out laughing when I read that “threat.” This Radcliffe bloke expects free stadiums, and players on the cheap…

He has a lot to learn.

They can have Mason Holgate also if they want.

Graduate in an interview:

Boss: "What salary were you looking for?"
Graduate: "£120,000"
Boss: "How about £100,000; 100% bonus; Ferrari as a company car; 8 weeks holiday a year?"
Graduate: "You're kidding!"
Boss: "Yes, but you started it."

I would love to play that with Man Utd. Call them for a meeting and when they put their offer, say No, pick up the papers and walk out.

The parties are so far apart, then there is not the opportunity to agree. Put it this way: you have a house to sell, it is on the market at £800,000. Someone says "I will give you £350,000 (and you know it is shared ownership so the housing association will take £50,000) and another £80,000 if I find no problems." Do you honestly believe that there is the possibility of a deal?

The sale of Branthwaite will not stop them getting referred to a new independent commission. It will just take the bad look of things, just like the previous realization of value during transfer windows.

These independent commissions have proved unpredictable and we don't know how many points we might be deducted.

Last season, it was comfortable because the promoted teams were so poor but Leicester and Southampton (and maybe Ipswich) will probably be better. It may well be another battle and a few points here and there could be crucial.

Branthwaite had an excellent season and looks to have a bright future but there are other talented young centre-backs around.

I'm hoping that selling Onana may be enough to keep the PSR wolf from the door but, if not, then I'm not sure I'd be taking risks with point deductions, especially if it looks like we're doing it on purpose.

It's a difficult balance and I wouldn't want to sell him cheaply but, if a sensible offer over £60M comes in, then the PSR situation (which none of us really have clarity over) must be taken into consideration.

Market value is subjective. The true price is the price you get people to pay.

If we need to sell and he really wants to leave, he'll leave. The only question is how tough we'll be in negotiating.

Although I usually agree with your posts I can’t on this occasion. If there are ‘ other talented young centre-backs around.’ why aren’t United knocking on their door instead of Branthwaite’s? Left sided defenders are in a minority and prospects as good as Jarrod are few and far between. Along with Tarks and Pickford he’s the reason why we had the fourth best defensive record and second highest number of clean sheets last season even though we were fighting relegation. United paid £80m for Maguire years ago so a prospect like Branthwaite with a decade of top flight service ahead of him should be in a similar price bracket. As you say, the Commissions are unpredictable but haven’t they set a precedent with Forest and their sale of Johnson? Branthwaite in our settled defence would save us four points in my opinion. We shouldn’t be taken in by the bullying arrogance of Ratcliffe.

Totally agree. Precedent's been set AND other teams will be starting next season with a points deduction so I too would take the hit which I'd expect to be 4 reduced to 2 points similar to our last indiscretion.

And as you say there is no other young player anywhere near to Branthwaite's level.

I sometimes wonder whether Evertonians underestimate due to the fact that the player plays for us.

Branthwaite IMHO is, like Rooney was, a once in a generation player for us.

Don't let the fact that we're plucky little Everton mask the fact that that lad is absolutely golden.

A three strikes and you're out deal. And the EPL would not take into consideration Forrest's argument that they were actually financially better off by selling their player after the 30 June deadline.

I'd take the chance on this one, especially as the deduction would be very near the start of the season.

Aaaand another thing. We've just added £20m to the accounts with the Castore sponsorship deal.

There is no way that most successful clubs around Europe would think they cannot afford players of the quality of Branthwaite. They will be looking at other tall CBs age 22 or younger who would be much cheaper such as:

- Debast (Anderlecht)
- Vitik (Sparta Prague)
- Sangante (Le Havre)
- Amenda (Young Boys)
- Koulierakis (PAOK Salonika)
- Esteve (Burnley, having just arrived from Montpellier)

Personally, I think there's a very good chance that we end up with 23 year old Jacob Greaves of Hull - and that he would fit in well and become a popular player.

Kevin Thelwell said weeks ago we would have to sell players which seems to imply that we need to sell to comply with P&S rules, and we all understand that. But surely our priority should be to try and sell those players who have been offered extended contracts and haven't signed them, DCL and Godfrey are both in that category who we could get money for. Onana has said he hopes to play well in the Euros to convince the bigger clubs to come in for him, but I think there will be a rule that players cant do deals with players involved in the Euros, so maybe if we need to sell before the 30th June his sale couldn't be done before then. Just seems that inevitably we will agree a price for Branthwaite to stay within P&S rules if we don't sell the other options. Finally watched a documentary last night about Rooney again another brilliant talent let go far to early.

The shock created by Everton's (disproportionate) punishment last season is a massive wake up call to pretty much everyone (and not just in the Premier League). Transfer volumes could be down this season, or perhaps transfer prices or both. I suspect it might mean that (even if it hurts them from a sporting perspective) clubs will sell youth team products to generate an accounting win.

The curiosity of the Saudi league complicates this; as does the ongoing possibility of a formalised Super League. Hard to know where it all ends - except that player trading and youth development will have a be a big part of where we feature in this.

I don't think Dyche realises how very important Branthwaite is to the current squad. He covers Tarkowski's errors, stands in front of shots unlike the current defenders in the Man Utd team who cower away. He is the leading point man in the attack for free kicks and corners, moves forward with the ball into the opposition half and generally raises morale in other players. He can only get better.

Even if Man Utd were allowed to buy him they would recover the £80M costs in the first year. They would qualify for the champions league earning them at least an extra £12M to £18M in Premiership prize money. At least £30M to £55M in champion league prize money plus extra money from FA Cup.

We (Everton) would on the other hand would gain £80M to spend on players like Beto and Onana who have cost us £60M and who have teams breaking down our doors to buy them. It would eventually cost us our premiership status which is worth £100M+

I have only attended three games at Goodison this year they were Nottingham Forest, Liverpool and Brentford. I predicted three wins though I was worried about Nottingham Forest.

I predict if we sell Branthwait we will be relegated in the 24/25 season.

We have save a lot on salaries Dele Ali (£5m+), Gomes(£5M+), Lonergan (£3M) and Arnaut Danjuma (£3M+)

We should give Branthwaite a salary increase to 90k p/w also take a legal case against Man Utd of approaching players before being given permission to talk. Though this sort of thing has been going on for years hence Rooney's golf game with Ferguson before suddenly being bought by Man Utd.

We should sell Keane, Holgate, Maupay, Onana and Beto. We should also be questioning the medical staff why they allowed Deli Ali to be signed considering his physical and mental state of mind.

If they state that Lampard overruled them then we should consider legal action against Lampard to at least recover the pay off monies that Lampard received. Why should a manager not be sued for incompetence in regard to wasting money on transfers.

Next season we will see the FA suddenly revise the financial fairplay rules because of the action and effect of Man City's legal action. Rendering the sale of vitally key players a silly decision.

Player trading and youth development all aided Kenwright Robert, but I think Moshiri’s approach, has destroyed everything and this is obviously going to take time to rebuild.

It is obviously the way forward though, so hopefully this is going to be something the new owners really concentrate on.

I'm all for offering Jarrad a much better deal to at least give him an incentive to stay, even if it's only for one more year with the chance to leave. If we consider him to be one of the reasons why we stayed up, he deserves his increase.

As Don indicates @ 104 with his comment...

'I just hope Jarrad takes a leaf out of Jordan's experience and chooses, as the very young man he is, to go on gaining regular selection in an excellent defensive unit in an otherwise bog-standard Premier League club from which, in two or three seasons, he'll be able to more or less select which top club he chooses to sign for, thereby becoming ludicrously wealthy, and trophy-laden too.

Man Utd are not a club to deliver top trophies in the next two or three seasons at least.'

He'll be able to pick Real Madrid.

I hope he stays, but a big money move could benefit all parties.

Some years ago, clubs were after Napoli's Kalidou Koulibaly, they priced him at £95M. We know Jarrad is a better player, and worth more, especially with Carlisle cashing a percentage.

Last year PSV put in a cheeky bid of £15M – a ridiculous under-bid, which I half expected to materialize. If so, I would have stopped supporting the club I did from my 5th birthday on. Luckily that didn't happen.

We desperately need stable leadership with balls, who can say no, despite our predicament.

Breathe bruvva..

Branthwaite still makes tons of mistakes and doesn't really go forward that often yet, it actually really only started to happen after he came back from England. Everyone on our squad has always blocked shots for as long as I remember. Pretty sure tarkowski and onana are more targets in the opponents area too, Branthwaite picked up 2nd balls for his goals. Finally I agree, he will only get better and we should increase his wages.

Frank should pay us back for signing dele is insanity though mate and actually makes us look petty.

As for the Dele issue do you remember that Moyes really wanted to sign a player and was told no because he did not pass our medical. Moyes did have the option to overrule the medics but at his responsibility.

I am suggesting that we investigate the issue to find how to prevent it happening again, maybe Lampard did overrule the medics?

Dele played 13 times for us and was paid £10.4M according to Capology, for the two years that we had him. We almost certainly paid £7M of that salary with no goals.

Colin do you not think that a new reality is coming to European football we cannot keep buying footballers with money that may never be recovered with salaries that are not justified?

Going after peanuts from ex coaches isn't going to solve anything and makes us far less attractive to future employers. Can't you see that??

There was an article a few years ago explaining why Liverpool buy very few lemons and instead pick up bargains such as Salah, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Philippe Coutinho and several others it was down to their IT director and not just because the manager played with him at another club.
Liverpool's IT manager analysed the players stats in different formations and situations. he was responsible for helping Liverpool earn over £100M just from Coutinho transfer. I do not see any reason why we could not implement a similar system.
They also used the same systematic approach to recruit Klopp and that was pretty successful.

As for looking 'petty' if that discourages managers like Lampard, Big Sam and Rafa from joining us then that is a bonus. It also sends a message we expect a higher standard of manager.

I am not a fan of Klopp but I have to admire him professionally to do any monthly job so successfully you have to put in a lot more than 40 hours a week for 50 weeks a year and that is one of the reason he left.

I do not think that Dyche has anywhere near that level of professionalism. He has taken far too long to realise which players blend better with each other like Baines and Pienaar did. Dyche lost the first few games because he did not do his homework before the pre season games.
Also the three managers above like to 'discover' new talent in the teams they managed hence the reason why Branthwaite did not play the first couple of premier games until Dyche had trained him to his standard and satisfaction.

Do managers write match reports for directors before and after games? it would certainly focus the manager's mind on the performance of his players and the team needs.
We are currently owned by an investor and not strictly a self made man. If we are sold to Dan Friedkin he is a self made billionaire and I would expect him to implement something along a reporting system. He will not be happy with' they did not follow my game play' when the team loses unless he saw the plan before the game.

Frank Lampard didn’t give Holgate a 5 year contract. That was good Old Marcel Brands and Carlo Ancelotti

Maybe we could sell him to RM and suggest to CM that he can sort him out again and sell him for a massive profit.

He emailed me a list of demands, mostly completely unrealistic. I emailed him back asking him to come in to negotiate. His response was that his demands were non-negotiable and that he’d post me the agreement and then come in to pick up the signed agreement.

When he walked through my office door I picked up the agreement and tore it in half, threw it in the bin and told him to find his own way out.

The look on his face was priceless.

Ed Holgate will never play for Everton again.. put some quid on it now. I've hoped Holgate never saw the field after Firmino made him look like a school boy and he cried racism

If we sack dyche now then we get everything we deserve. Sean Dyche for King of England.

Dyche is pretty good at organizing a defense and in fact Tarkowski was arguably the better of the two centre backs last year.

Branthwaite is probably an 8/10 player who might become a 10/10 player and those cost you upwards of £50m. But we could hopefully find a 7/10 player with potential to become a 8/10 player for around £15-20m.

Knowingly taking a PSR hit seems super risky for me and imagine if those five points (or whatever the deduction is) sees us go down.

Maybe it’s just a conservative approach but I wouldn’t be giving the PL any say over our future next season if I could help it.

If it is nailed on, then why is Godfrey not thinking this is my chance to stake a claim.

All this talk of Utd not being held to ransom and walking away, they will be back for sure.

I just hope Everton stick to their guns and say no, if the offer is below £50 Million without add ons..

If Utd think he is only worth £50 million max, call their bluff and insist on a 50% sell on clause over £50 million.

Like I say no one knows, all speculation, the player might be happy to stay at Everton.

Rooney, Lescott, Stones, Lukaku, Richarlison...yes there are some names there that were nigh on impossible to replace but we never have succeeded either by buying a few for the money or blowing the proceeds on one player.

The other option being to risk a PSR fine having not sold him is the strange one. I would wager we'll finish higher up the table by retaining him so our collective value would surely be enhanced by continuing until next summer?

In the absence of negotiation, what else could I do but call his bluff?

In the absence of negotiation, what else could I do but call his bluff?

Although in the case of United - I hope we never have to do so.