Branthwaite wants Everton to match Manchester United's terms

I'm surprised if Branthwaite is throwing his weight around with contracts at this point.

He might have been offered a lot more money at Man Utd but his contract with Everton has to stand, right?

I have no worries about Branthwaite this summer. He is contracted until June 2027. We are apparently under no pressure to sell him for less than his transfer value.

If Jarrad has confidence in his ability, as he should, he will know Man Utd or another club will come back for him at some point.

Mindful of that, it would be perverse on the player's part to turn down the offer of more money. What the club cannot do is repeat the mistakes of previous years by paying unsustainable salaries. £160k per week is unsustainable for our club.

This grinds me on two counts.

Firstly, how the hell are Man Utd able to offer a contract proposal to another club's player without their approval (ie, tapping up)?

And secondly, why has Jarrad (or his agent more like) taken up this hard stance against the club who launched his career?

Jay.

You're doing it again, Jay. Believing everything you read! Don't do it, mate.

Most of what you read is shite, including the post following yours (but now on a different thread).

I'd be loath to lose Branthwaite but right now I think Tarkowski is just as important.

I'll bet this is just the pro-United press ramping up the pressure.

This story does not totally stack up to me.

As Jarrad is contracted to 2027 and he knows Everton are not going to sell him on the cheap, why would he not renegotiate his contract for more money while still playing in a blue shirt??

It is obvious we are only going to hang onto him for a year unless somebody offers us £80M right now. Saying he is not going to sign a contract unless he gets £160k a week sounds madness from his perspective.

On a different note, £160k a week, which is over £8M per year, is obscene for a footballer, I think.

Brian,

I agree to a large extent but somebody is feeding this stuff to the media and why aren't Everton making a statement about the claim that Man Utd offered him £160k a week???

It is really irritating me that Ratcliffe is getting away with being an arrogant prick.

Jarrad Branthwaite has definitely not had any form of contact with Man Utd, and he has definitely not agreed any personal terms with them.

Man Utd may well have said to someone, they are prepared to pay Branthwaite £160k a week, but it definitely wasn't to the player himself.

As some have said, he has another 3 years left on his contract, so why on earth would Everton suddenly boost his wages up to £160k a week when, in all likelihood, he will more than likely be sold next summer when someone pays the price placed on him?

It almost doesn't matter if Man Utd have offered him £160k a week or not, Branthwaite and his advisors will know big money and far greater prospects are less than an hour up the East Lancs Road.

And that is the bottom line for the vast majority of players as confirmed by candid interviews from ex-pros all across social media. If "Always a Blue" Rooney can walk away from Everton, anyone can.

I thought he hadn't long signed a new contract.

Most of the rags are in the back pockets of the two Manc clubs and Liverpool. When these teams want to unsettle a player, they get their journos to start spreading the rumours to get the ball rolling.

John Richardson (now defunct) of the Daily Mirror admitted as much on the Sunday Supplement a few years ago. Fergie would give him a name and Rico (as he was known) would do the rest to please his master.

This sounds like a typical Man Utd ploy.

I don't get it.

ow could he have sat down with Manchester Utd and discussed contract terms? Surely Man Utd can't do that without Everton's permission.

I guess it's one more good season and then he goes. His price will increase if he has another good one.

I just can't imagine any other outcome. It's a shame but financially we just can't compete.

Lyndon, where are you getting this “He agreed with Manchester United” from?

If he has agreed anything, then it means he has spoken to them, which means it's been done without Everton's consent, and therefore means Man Utd have “tapped him up”, which is against the rules.

I know for a fact that he hasn't spoken to Man Utd, unless of course, my most reliable source has kept quiet.

File under "complete journo bullshit."

It's probably his agent who spoke to Man Utd.

He has 3 years left on his contract, hasn't he? Well back in his box till the end of the season.

There is that as well, Brian.

And the fact that it's the Daily Mail saying it means it probably is just that, Bullshit!!

The longer your contract, then the club holds the aces.

This is a case of the player understanding his value. He's signed a deal last year so doesn't want to give the club an even bigger bargaining chip by us being able to say he's signed a new 5-year deal.

He knows he's going to move on soner rather than later and doesn't want the club putting too high a price on him. He's basically saying the next contract I sign will be for this much, be that Everton, Man Utd, Arsenal, or whoever.

His agent's definitely been in contact with Man Utd while they were bidding. Doesn't £160k seem a lot, even for Man Utd to pay this lad?? I mean, I know they are a bonkers club, but surely Jarrad knows he ain't getting that here!

Matthew,

Branthwaite doesn't have to sit down with anyone, his reptile of an agent will slither under the radar and discuss our player's demands without Jarrad's involvement. He'll just be given the deal Man Utd are prepared to agree with.

Agents should be dragged out and shot before dawn. Even the good ones. Scum.

This all goes through the agent, not the player.

Branthwaite doesn't need to have any contact at all with Man Utd (or any other club).

But his agent is completely free to talk to other clubs and ask what package they would offer Branthwaite. If they can come up with something Branthwaite and his agent agree to, then Man Utd (etc) know it's worth talking to Everton (and indeed Branthwaite and his agent can apply a bit of pressure to leave also).

Rob, it's as Ray says. The agent will have sounded Man Utd out. It's unsavoury but it goes on in the modern game.

The "agreed" part is journo speak — there is unlikely to be an official agreement between player and club but his representative will, no doubt, have told them that, if they offered £160k (or whatever), then he would sign.

This being the Rumour Mill, I'd take everything with a grain of salt but, of all the Mail's writers, Simon Jones is arguably the most reputable... which isn't saying much!

While the Branthwaite rumours will continue to rumble on, I can close off one rumour (one which I may have started) – Ollie McBurnie has just signed on a free for Las Palmas of Gran Canaria.

We won't be seeing him at Goodison (despite a good goal record last season and excellent aerial duel statistics). I was open-minded (as ever) but this will be good news for the McBurnie haters.

He's got an existing contract to June 2027, so 3 years basically.

I think the time to discuss new deals (or flog him) will be after another good season next summer.

We cannot and must not pay him that level of salary.

If he wants out, then sell if we are offered £70M and buy O'Brien for less than a third of that.

We can't have another Lescott situation which might upset the whole squad!

This has surely got to be his agent.

Think he still has about 3 years on his contract so if he’s really holding out for £160k then cash in next summer and reinvest.