Everton reject another laughably low bid for Branthwaite

But something tells me that’s probably not the case…

Don't worry about Branthwaite.

Football Insider is largely manned by cub reporters attempting to gain attention by making up so-called exclusives.

If there is a germ of truth in what Mike Gaynes has picked up on, then that does change things a little bit, and we start to see Branthwaite as someone who wants to leave us for what he perceives to be "ambition".

If he is agitating for a move, and I have absolutely no idea if that is the case, then selling on our own terms – not theirs – might be sensible. But that all depends on whether or not he has been talking to them on the side and sly.

£70 million bare floor minimum. Don't move off that number. Personally, I'd be up near £100 million.

He's got what? 3 years left on his contract?

Meet the valuation or he plays for us. Even if Jarrad himself tries to force the move, tell him no. He's not going anywhere unless another club meets our valuation.

Just do not give a single inch.

At least if you feel the rain on your face it's because the roof has been retracted and not because it just fell in!

Richest club in the world, lowballing us on our best player, when they think we're skint.

Scumbags.

Man Utd really are a joke of a club. They are in the process of making 250 staff redundant, yet pay or offer ridiculous salaries to players either on their books, or players they are trying to sign.

Try reducing some of the ludicrous salaries you pay to players and maybe you can keep the 250 members of staff on, and also get Jim Ratcliffe (No 'Sir' before his name because, quite frankly, he doesn't deserve it) to fork out paying for a new or re-developed stadium rather than asking the taxpayers to pay for it.

One joke of a fucking club. Oh yeah, and also fuck off with your paltry offer for our Jarrad!!!

What is Ratcliffe hoping to achieve other than trying to disrupt Branthwaite and encourage him to ask for a transfer..?!

See if they accept that.

Move the goal post and up it to £75M, then £80M when they up theirs by £5M.

It's clear what they are doing, trying to unsettle the player, hoping he puts a transfer request in.

Get Dan Friedkin to fly over Old Trafford in his Dunkirk spitfire, with a banner from the tail-end saying "Stick your bid up your arse!"

I love that idea!! Let's see what their response is!

Paid £80M for a centre-half you don't like. Price goes up for one you do like.

Knobheads.

Thelwell: "Sorry, Jim. No."

Ratcliffe: "What was that? No?? Do you know who you are talking to??? I'm a Knight of the Realm. You don't say No to me. I've never heard the likes!"

Thelwell: "I told you No a fortnight ago."

Ratcliffe: "But that was a misunderstanding."

Thelwell: "Look, Sir Jim. Have you seen Branthwaite actually play? There's no Maguire or Jones about him. He's unbelievable. The best in his age group for starters. He's English. He's left-footed and he's under contract to us for another 3 years. So do us all a favour and don't ring again, there's a good chap. By the way, you do know your club paid £80M for Maguire and surely you've seen him play and you offer us £45M. Just Go Away!!!"

Or, stay with us and win some trophies.

Like the Premier League letting them know they're going to hit Everton again…

If they have approached our boy, then let's get Masters and his “independent” commission on the case! At least a 60-point deduction.

In the meantime, let us all relax and just enjoy him in Everton colours.

We should do all we can to keep hold of Branthwaite. Players like Onana, Holgate, Keane, Maupay and Beto should be sold on priority to generate funds and part of the amount should be re-invested and the other should help us satisfy a PSR shortfall, if any.

He adds decent balance to the team and is a very good young future England regular.

Hopefully they will have set a limit around £60M and that won't be enough to persuade Everton.

They simply cannot afford him, therefore submitting bids at half his valuation and briefing the press like this will lead clubs they approach to conclude they are not serious or credible.

Ratcliffe has a lot to learn about the business of football based on his handling of the search for a new manager, offering Ten Hag an extension, and irritating Premier League clubs with silly transfer offers.

My first experience in the flesh of them was a game at Goodison in ‘69 when our Holy Trinity destroyed theirs (Charlton, Best & Law) in a 3-0 demolition job. Fast forward to the Tommy Doc’s kids of Hill, Greenhoff bros, Daly, Coppell, Macari, Stuart etc…they were a breath of fresh air when they came storming out of the old second division. And they had the best kit in the land.

Who didn’t end up cheering when they beat Bayern Munich to win the treble for the first time? Be honest now. And despite Ferguson being a miserable old fuck, who didn’t secretly applaud him when he knocked THEM off their fucking perch? The years of watching the rs squirm despite the FAKHTS was highly enjoyable in my world.

Those days are well and truly gone. United under the Glazer’s have become a bloated, boring old tart. They are a shadow of their former selves and with this tax dodging, brexiteer, entitled prick at the helm now with his staff reductions, cartel intentions to preserve their top 6 status and now a condescending and insulting offer for Branthwaite, they can fuck right off.

We haven't outspent our sales proceeds since Ancelotti bought Allan, Doucoure and others in summer 2020 - and Friedkin seems unlikely to sanction a shopping spree given experience at Roma (and the fact he doesn't own the club yet).

Selling Branthwaite would be a real shame but for a decent fee (£70m ish) it might be the better way to rebuild the squad in those circumstances.

Despite being relegated in the 70s and even before the Ferguson era, they were always the biggest club in England. They struggled a bit last season by their previous standards.

My favourite match against them? For me, when we smashed them 5-0, S heedy getting two including one where he looked like he had knocked himself out!

The 4-4 at Old Trafford was a bit of a classic too.

As for Branthwaite, I hope we can keep hold of him for a season or two. The figures mentioned, if true are way below what he is worth.

Abromovich is the perfect example of this, and this is why I wanted the group that was getting advice from Keith Harris, to purchase Everton.

Hopefully Friedkin, does something similar, although when you read that his son, is going to be the head-honcho, it doesn’t fill me with great confidence, if I’m being honest.

Early days I know, but if the rumours are true that he’s trying to chip Moshiri, a hell of a lot more than United are ludicrously trying to chip Everton, with regards Jarod Brainthwaith, then maybe we are getting ourselves a very shrewd operator, even though I personally think that the shrewdest operator’s, are the people who just set out to employ the best.

Abromovich is the perfect example of this, and this is why I wanted the group that was getting advice from Keith Harris, to purchase Everton.

Hopefully Friedkin, does something similar, although when you read that his son, is going to be the head-honcho, it doesn’t fill me with great confidence, if I’m being honest.

Early days I know, but if the rumours are true that he’s trying to chip Moshiri, a hell of a lot more than United are ludicrously trying to chip Everton, with regards Jarod Brainthwaith, then maybe we are getting ourselves a very shrewd operator, even though I personally think that the shrewdest operator’s, are the people who just set out to employ the best.

Abromovich is the perfect example of this, and this is why I wanted the group that was getting advice from Keith Harris, to purchase Everton.

Hopefully Friedkin, does something similar, although when you read that his son, is going to be the head-honcho, it doesn’t fill me with great confidence, if I’m being honest.

Early days I know, but if the rumours are true that he’s trying to chip Moshiri, a hell of a lot more than United are ludicrously trying to chip Everton, with regards Jarod Brainthwaith, then maybe we are getting ourselves a very shrewd operator, even though I personally think that the shrewdest operator’s, are the people who just set out to employ the best.

Danny, Boxing Day 1977(?) I was there on the Gwladys Street terrace, freezing cold, when they thrashed us 6-2.

They were so good, we applauded them off the pitch and not even one cushion was thrown onto the pitch. And we had a great team as well at the time.

£80 million with add-ons or no deal.

Maybe we should do the same?

Weren't we unbeaten going into that match?

I remember applauding Macari's goal in the Gwladys Street end and I wasn't the only one.

Add Mykolenko, Garner, McNeil, Ndiaye, Phillips, Philogene and Patterson (or a new right-back) and we have the making of a decent mid-table team. Something to build on before the move into the new stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock.

I think Tommy Docherty had left by then (shame as he was building something special) and they would soon go into decline under Dave Sexton. Didn't Ian Ross score an oggie in that game?

Great memories of Boxing Day games before global warming.

It'd be a fiver and a bag of magic beans!

So this now is all about the wishes of Dyche and Thelwell and whether they want to keep Branthwaite or take the money and re invest. My preference is keep Branthwaie for another season and tell him he will be allowed to leave at the end of next season if he wishes.

I wonder if the new potential owner has been consulted as I am sure he will have a vested interest in what happens to the most talented player at the club.

Keep him, don't sell him. Onana if we have to, Jarrad no

I very much doubt the decision to sell is up to Dyche and Thelwell. As with everything, it is down to our financial position.

Although we have passed 30 June (phew) without a fire-sale, we are still in a huge mess financially. This isn't just about PSR, this is about solvency and future trading etc.

As a more general point, the valuation and fee is hard to gauge. More so than usual, the market is all over the place due to quirky PSR deals.

But the fee and valuation is generally driven by the bargaining position of the buyer and seller – not by the quality of the player. For example:

- Olise to Bayern: €53M - seems like a significant undervalue. Palace fans, I am sure, will be enraged about this and consider Olise to be worth the sort of big fee (£70m+) we would want for Branthwaite. But it might be that there was some contractual position if a Champions League club from outside the Premier League stepped in.

- Kilman to West Ham €47.5m - seems like an overvalue. But if Lopetegui (having worked with Kilman at Wolves) demands the player and Wolves don't want or need to sell, then this is the price

If we do sell Branthwaite, the price will reflect our need (or not) to sell (and any funny business in his contract that we may not know about).

Man Utd aren't doing anything wrong in offering whatever they want to, to any club, for any player. People pluck figures out of the air largely based on previous transfers, but that doesn't make any sense to me – just because Maguire cost them £80M doesn't mean Branthwaite is worth the same/more.

That was a world record for a defender at the time, and the economic landscape has changed – in both world football and for both Man Utd and Everton. It's widely known we don't have a massive amount of money to spend so of course Utd are going to lowball us. Why would they do anything else?

It's just basic business isn't it? It was only a few years ago we were pissing away large fees on players, and look where it got us. It's really not a big deal them offering fees we see as low – Everton will sell at the right price, and every player has a right price. If they meet it, he goes, if not, he stays. It's a non-story until a fee is accepted in my view.

On a slightly different note, I don't think Man Utd is a good option for his career anyway. He'd be better off staying with us for a couple more seasons, see how things pan out and then leave or stay depending on the situation. That said, it could be that economics may yet decide his fate.

I was in the Upper Gwladys for that game and not everyone was impressed.

I recall a sizeable section of the crowd departing to 'congratulate' the Man Utd fans as they went back to their coaches.

I agree that the financial position of the club will be a major aspect of any transfer deals the club do but, given our owner is now in his 2nd exclusivity deal, I would think he is more interested in getting out than making these decisions.

So who at Everton if not Dyche and Thelwell would make these financial decisions?

Also, all we have heard for months is that some of the world's biggest clubs are interested in Onana. I realize Branthwaite being bought for little money would bring in a bigger financial reward; he is worth more to the side than Onana.

We're being played like the proverbial fiddle in that sense.

I well remember the whole crowd singing “We all agree, Duncan McKenzie is magic!”

Branthwaite is, in player terms, our most valuable asset. It will depend on their view of what is the best financial outcome.

You're dead right. Given Branthwaite's contractual situation, Everton will only sell if the price is right for the club.

I take Robert's point @27 that £70M or £80M would be very helpful for team-building purposes for a club as broke as we are and it's interesting that we seem to be looking at O'Brien as cover at centre-back… maybe as a contingency plan in case we do sell him?

What intrigues me is the rumour that Branthwaite has agreed terms with Man Utd. If this can be proven, then it is blatant tapping up and should be investigated by the Premier League and punished accordingly.

A clever bit of business by Carlisle.

On the plus side, I don't think we have anyone who might want to have dinner with Please Sir, Jim Ratcliffe, but is he worried about their PSR position? Has Mr Masters been seen dining out recently?

I spent a lot of time in Dorset at Blandford.

It will be interesting to see how long Manchester United stick with Ten Hag. I wanted him for Everton at the time. Coming from Ajax, he's probably more used to dealing with and developing young players as opposed to big egos. And he could have brought Pienaar with him!

It will also be interesting to see how the Dutch guy gets on following in Klopp's shoes. It is a bit like those who tried to replace Ferguson at United. I wonder if Klopp is waiting for the German national position? That would free up Nagelsman, who is a talented young coach.

I think Sean Dyche is probably one of the safest at the moment, but football never ceases to amaze. He done a great job keeping the team focussed when the circus was going on around them. He's got my respect. He was the only voice of the club.

If he doesn't suffer second-season syndrome like so many youngsters who have a break-out season his value will be north of £100M.

They're hardly going to come in with a bid for what we value him at.

You own a house valued at £400,000. Someone offers £250,000. What do you say to them?

Many on here refer to us as “skint” or “broke”, harking back to the dismal Kenwright years and worse, seem happy to accept it.

Live in the real world: PSR has obviously been achieved, unless the corrupt Masters interferes again, but far more importantly our new owner – the takeover is bound to be completed soon – is already paying off the loans and, whilst he clearly won't be throwing big money around, the club will no longer be in any sort of financial mess.

If Branthwaite has been offered £160k per week, you couldn't blame him for wanting to leave.

He is hard to value, he looks like the real deal there no doubt that but it's only over one season. You would have to think he is more likely to improve with more experience though.

Do I want him to leave definitely not, but blocking him going might be a mistake if he really wants to leave.

My guess is that Man Utd will go higher or they could try to add one of their players to the deal to increase their bid that way, who knows?

What do you lot think?

I might be wrong about this so do correct me - but I thought Friedkin was taking over responsibility for the loans, not actually repaying them. I don't think our financial situation is resolved for a while yet – although we are hopefully on a much better track than the extreme cost-cutting since 2020.

In terms of who is making the financial decisions – it absolutely isn't Dyche and Thelwell. Oversimplifying a fair bit here but these guys are football management, not club or business management.

Dyche is essentially the first-team coach responsible for organising the players on the pitch. Thelwell is responsible for recruitment and development of players over the short, medium and long term within a budget he is given by the club. He doesn't set his own budget.

The decision on whether to sell and at what price will ultimately be determined by club management (the business side, not football side) based on financial reporting, accounting rules, tax rules etc etc.

As Michael K keeps pointing out, although Moshiri is absent, we do still have club management. And since we're in an exclusivity period, it's likely that material decisions on asset sales (which is what this is) will have to be referred to our potential new owners too for input.

Either one, I think it's shite myself.

We're reported to have sent a contract proposal to Philogene. Who knows if any of this is true? But I'd be surprised if "tapping up" isn't the order of the day now.

Let's see what happens, but I'm hopeful he will be starting v Brighton.

I admire your confidence about PSR, not sure I've the same level of confidence!

That said, even if we have achieved compliance for 2023-24 we still have to do it for 2024-25. Hopefully we can get some income from BMD, eg, naming rights, but I still expect we will have to make some significant sales in the next 12 months so it is all about timing to maximise value.

Tapping up is still going on sadly... we are doing the same for the Hull player. I suppose Hull are pissed off with us.

Real Madrid or Man City will tap Branthwaite up off Man Utd... after a few. It's the dog-eat-dog situationn, I reckon.

He's turning the loans into equity. So we owe nothing.

You're right. But this was bona fide contact with Hull's permission – not via the back door.

Everton certainly haven't given Man Utd permission to talk to Branthwaite. Could be dirty dealings through his agent but this would still be against Premier League rules.

Before the swap, he gets repayments on the loan.
After the swap, he has to extract value in other ways (dividends?) - and the chance of paying a dividend presumably depends on us making a profit (which also funded the loan repayments). That profit is much better enabled by the sale of assets and reinvestment of only a small amount of the sale proceeds in replacement assets.

If that's right (and it might not be!), the likelihood (or not) of selling Branthwaite doesn't seem to have changed?

What has changed, I suppose, is Friedkin has a bit more flexibility on how much value he extracts now. He may give us more breathing space to get back on our feet – but he'll want his return at some point.

Man Utd either pay the correct fee, or walk away. The idea that they are playing the game has no relevance to the truth of the matter.

Man Utd want Branthwaite on the cheap and, for one, I sincerely hope we don't cave in to their pitiful attempts to sign a player clearly worth more than they are offering.

Walk away then, jog on.

Half these rumours might be the Carlisle chairman ringing the press, trying to get his 15% with a sale.

If they agreed wages with his agent, which is totally corrupt, why don't the club report them to the FA, as he's under contract?

We should offer him an improved contract, and at worst, keep him for this season, as his value will definitely soar, and decide next summer. I'd definitely be worried if we let him and Calvert-Lewin leave before the new season.

1. Conversion into equity of working capital loans by 777 totalling just over £150m;

2. Funds into escrow account;

3. Proof of funding to complete stadium, and repay MSP’s £158m stadium loan by mid-April;

4. Payment to Moshiri of £64m upfront, rising potentially to as much as £130m if a series of milestones is met.

Branthwaite has neither agreed, signed or even spoken about personal terms with Man Utd.

[This is from about as reliable a source as you can get without it being the player himself.]

I remember Macari's goal. But what I remember most was the United fans singing (To the tune of, Oh my darling Clementine), "Merry Christmas, merry Christmas, merry Christmas, Everton."

I didn't find it funny at the time. And I don't really find it funny now.

What is funny is how you remember such random things.

But ultimately Friedkin is shelling out a lot of money (and giving up what would otherwise have been loan repayments).

Since this is not a vanity (or geopolitical) purchase, he'll presumably therefore run the football side of things on a very tight budget (as he has been doing at Roma – spending a lot less than he generates in player sales).

He might conclude there's no point him spending, say, £100M only to finish (very optimistically) 9th instead of 12th next season. Similarly, he may think Dyche can keep us at 12th or thereabouts by selling Branthwaite, replacing him with O'Brien or Greaves or whoever – and releasing a bit more of the proceeds (but probably not the whole lot) to bring in a right-back and a wing / forward like Philogene or whoever.

If Friedkin decides to keep Branthwaite and invest further in the squad, then brilliant, obviously, but that would seem an unlikely thing for him to do.

Mark – for some reason I had him down as Ian Ross. Good, solid player. Despite the loss, it was a great game in a very festive season.

I suspect he will stay one more year, then be sold next year.

We need a right winger after all and his stats are very good.

"I've just got in the England squad, I play every week! I'm loved by these fans, even when I don't have the best game. I've developed massively last season under this management in 1 year. There are no Euros or World Cup next summer… what's the rush?

"Ten Hag is on borrowed time anyway, who's next at Man Utd? Will they want me? Will I suffer going to Man Utd in these times of transition?

"Will I be better waiting to see who replaces Ten Hag? My best years are ahead of me!"

I mean, I know what I'd do!! Man Utd are bonkers at the minute. The lad could end up like all the other promising world class youngsters that end up ruined there.

I'd say Mainoo plus £60M.

I really don't understand why you are worried about PSR this time, and why you expect more players to be sold.

It's clear that Onana will leave for a good fee with Maupay and Holgate offloaded, if only on loan again.

I thought Thellwell made a big mistake stating that “players will be sold” – scaring everyone into thinking he was referring to Branthwaite, Calvert-Lewin and even Pickford, several on here happily speculating on which journeymen would replace them.

For the first time since the uncertainty regarding the future without the ageing John Moores, c 1990, we are clearly about to see a focussed management team.

The cartel of Liverpool, Manchester United, Arsenal and Spurs detested the arrival of mega millions at Chelsea and Manchester City but at last the days of their insidious protection from PSR are numbered.

There is no reason that with a competent management team, and a new stadium to outshine even Arsenal and Spurs, that we could become a major force again within 5 years.

Cheeky Mancs... sigh. No more a soft touch, please Blues!

We all know what he did.

However, I am worried Branthwaite may have had his head turned by big money and a lure of Europe etc. Let's hope not as we have very little left at the back.

Tarkowski and Branthwaite make a good partnership but Keane is unreliable these days.

With Godfrey gone, we would need a quick dependable replacement if we lose Branthwaite.

Rob #72, you're always the most reassuring source on Jarrad. Gee, I wonder who you've been talking to on your walks in the park... ;-))

Robert #74, you're assuming Friedkin will be making individual personnel decisions, but I strongly doubt it. He did nothing of the sort at Roma. If he's the smart executive I believe him to be, he will simply give Thelwell marching orders regarding budgetary priorities and leave the DOF to make the decisions about individual sells and buys. And I believe Thelwell could make a persuasive case that keeping Branthwaite for one more season -- imagine what he might be worth in 10 months -- would be a better fiscal decision than selling him now.

I do agree with your main point that Friedkin won't want Thelwell spending big to move up 3-4 spots in the table. I think they'll be ready for bigger investments when we're ready to bid for Europe.

Mike, it is Branthwaite's dad. I'm not joking.

Branthwaite has already done well in two European leagues and inevitably the longer we keep him the more he'll be worth. He will replace Stones for England very soon.

I wonder who will be our next skipper assuming this is Seamus last season? It could be Pickford but how about Jarrad!

Sorry but I don't remember the Busby Babes or the likes of Best, Charlton and Law. By the time I was properly watching games, Man Utd were a fast-waning enterprise on the pitch…. but forever the biggest and best club in the eyes of a fawning media.

I hated it and I really don't ‘respect' them, no more than I ‘respect' the neighbours from gaining so much from simply being the darlings of the media.

Jim Ratcliffe will use any tactic he thinks will benefit his club, including seeing if he can use vassal journalists to unsettle a targeted player.

Hopefully young Jarrad is a self-confident personality who has calculated that there is no need to waste his time at a jittery United for the sake of some instant moolah. He is cherished where he is and the world will become his oyster in short order if he continues to develop.

He played in 36 games in Holland for PSV who did everything they could to try and keep him for another season.

Some players you can accept leaving, but the likes of Rooney and Branthwaite are rare talents, we need to do everything we can to at least try and get at a minimum another season out of him.

Players have no loyalty, clubs are being forced to play the profit game and there's nothing I can do about it.

However, I don't like the fact Everton make stupid and somewhat unhelpful comments.

Why publicly say 'we need to sell'? Why put a celling on a player's value?

We need someone from within to not limit us in these ways. Maybe a poker player to advise the chatterboxes in the boardroom to shut the fuck up!

Before we know transfer deadline day arrives, Jarrad Branthwaite has gone for £55M with no time to replace him, and Dom is loaned out for £10M to save on his wages. Typical!

Probably leaves Jake O'Brien of Lyon as our most likely Branthwaite replacement now. Unless of course Branthwaite has now been priced out of a move.