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.

Ray Roche #21. Fully agree with your last statement except I'm not losing precious sleep over them by getting up early. They can wait until later in the day.

Another storyfrom the toilet roll that supported Hitler and the Nazis!

How is it that Man u got to offer wages to our player ?
Surely that is an illegal approach/tapping up.

Why would we offer him a new deal after tying him down for three years? Presumably we gave him that deal realizing he was good. It's totally illogical to offer him another deal for what maybe one year longer on more money than. That's why I'm assuming this is fake news.

It's not my money, give him the 160k fuck it. That's the going rate for a solid 8/10 every week defender these days… or boom him off for 60 quick mill and get O'Brien who is also a beast… give Jazza the dough, sign kalvin phillips, gnonto and broja then finish top half. A man can dream eh

If you can't find somebody desperate at a club in financial difficulties then the next step is to upset the player by 'leaking' that you might pay him an extraordinary wage.

Will the EPL Executive do anything about it? Well they haven't so far, or perhaps the Man City case is taking up all their time.

OK, so if he's been offered, it's tapping up as mentioned, if he hasn't, it's lies by the paper and they can be sued.
Why do papers get away with this shit year after year without anyone taking them to task?

How can United come up with an accurate weekly wage amount if they haven't come anywhere near stumping up the required transfer fee? Are we in a world where they can just pretend they can spend any amount they feel like?

So £160k a week is a fictional amount and the scumbag journos shouldn't be allowed to report it at all.

Everton have no choice but to be more careful with how much they pay out in wages. Hopefully they are capable of making a case that it shouldn't be all about getting more money when the renumeration is already sky-high. I doubt the agents want to trim their windfalls though.

Fictional nonsense from the newspaper that absolutely despises Everton Football Club.

The only one with good things to say about EFC is Ian Herbert.

Biggest shock is this fabricated story didn't come from that little scrotum Matt Hughes.

For the record too, I think Jarrad Branthwaite seems like an intelligent person — which is why I do not think he will join Manchester United this summer.

A better, more lucrative move for all parties will await him next summer if he patiently waits and produces another season of equal consistency this time around.

A move to Man Utd, which is a fallen empire and a playground for egotistical individual characters, would not be somewhere I'd be desperate to go.

The fact they aren't even in the Champions League is also another factor and in my opinion won't be again at the end of 2024-25.

Why anyone would take the Hitler-loving Daily Mail seriously is beyond me.

Reading it is the journalistic equivalent of drinking from the toilet and expecting to be nourished.

Jarrad knows the club cannot afford to pay him £160k a week, so why bother asking for it?

It's all absolute garbage from the Daily Fail.

His agent earning his money or the Daily Mail as usual talking shite.

Either way, with nearly 3 years on the clock or a fee bigger than the guy he'll be replacing, he's going nowhere...

That said; a lot can happen before the window closes…

As soon as you see that the Daily Mail are leading the article, you know that the Man Utd transfer machine has gone into action.

Lies, lies, lies and more lies. Branthwaite has 3 years left on his contract and is not in a position to start demanding massive wage increases.

It's just a 'filler story' and bad journalism.

Always a blue, Rooney, could have stayed at Everton, but he was stitched up by a man who needed to sell him or he would have had to sell Everton Football Club. This is the reason I wish we had never had Wayne Rooney in the first place.

Money talks but let's not underestimate Everton FC. The club is moving into a fantastic new stadium this time next year, and I'm sure a lot of very good players would love to be a part of this new beginning.

Rob @15

Branthwaite's dad is likely not lying in what he says but probably he's not giving you the full facts which is understandable given the sensitivities of a multi-million-pound negotiation.

More generally, the idea players and agents follow the rules regarding contracts and tapping up, or have loyalty to a club in the face of untold riches, just doesn't stand scrutiny.

Podcasts abound of ex-pros shamelessly regaling friendly interviewers and other ex-pros about the shenanigans of the football industry and how rules are often circumvented to get their moves and line their pockets.

I don't know if Branthwaite will go but, if I was a betting man, I'd lay decent odds his camp are using Man Utd's interest as a lever to up his wages — they'd be mad not to.

If it's true, he needs fitting for bigger boots.

1. Clubs can easily agree terms with players without being liable for breaking the rules. You just need the club's agent to speak to the player's agent and everything is deniable. I believe that occasionally those agents are either the same person or work for the same agency.

2. Man Utd could offer Branthwaite whatever they wanted if they knew they weren't going to bid high enough to actually have to buy him. If there's any truth in this, then it's purely an attempt by Man Utd to unsettle the player. Branthwaite and his people would have to be genuinely stupid not to realise this, as it's pretty obvious.

3. As many have pointed out, it's in the Daily Mail. It's also been a slow week for Man Utd transfer stories, which must be a major global driver of traffic to their website.

Who knows what the truth is,

If Man Utd have offered Branthwaite £160k a week, that's silly money… but I can believe it; that's the football world now.

If you are in Branthwaite's shoes, you would want some of that; he might have affection for us but he'll love £160k per week more.

All guesswork — but that's what we are doing most of the time!

If you were a talented player in demand, like Branthwaite is, why on God's earth would you want to go to Man Utd?
They are clearly an 'unhappy' club and have been for some seasons.

Dressing room discontent, Manager discontent, Fans properly pissed off with the way their club is run…

If he has an ounce of sense, which he seems to have, he would play at least another season with us, then have his choice of some of the top clubs in the Premier League and Europe.

Why go to a club where there is so much discontent all around? Not a good environment for a young player to flourish.

Aye, Karen, another good season and it's the likes of Man City, Real Madrid and Barcelona that'll be looking at him seriously.

Karen @48 — exactly!

If Man Utd had not lifted the FA Cup, it is highly likely in my view that the manager and coaching staff would have been sacked, some key players (eg, Fernandes) would agitate for a move, and no European competition.

Jarrad Branthwaite will have so many other options should he continue his progress with Everton this coming season and, with Tarkowski as his partner in central defence, he has a wily, resolute and experienced mentor to learn from.

He will also enhance his chances of being picked for the national team playing regularly in the Premier League. Not so if he signed for ManUtd.

A rumour based on Daily Mail story. File in the bin and move on

This has all the hallmarks of agents playing mind games.
He is on contract for the next three years.Everton won't and don't need to sell him.
So it's up to the player.Does he sign a contract extension at Everton with more money or play the next three seasons on the same money in the hope he will hit the jackpot then?
What a dilemma for an impoverished young man to have to deal with!!

Stu, he certainly won't play the next three seasons on the same money. Everton will obviously offer him an improved contract, but nowhere near the alleged £160K being offered by man united.

Rob, not sure that will happen anytime soon (and hope not too). According to the media he already had his £35k a week salary doubled to £70k a week back end of last year. He's got 3 years left on his contract and will no doubt also get win bonuses, clean sheet bonuses and other sponsorships and endorsements so will already earn well over £12m over the next 3 years as it is. His next contract will be even higher, whoever that's with.

The club should just focus on the coming season and sign a RB. Jerrad will be just fine in the interim on £3.5m a year!

Over half of what United have offered him is what they would save if they can force a deal at 50 million instead of the full asking price. This reminds me of when Mourinho tried to sign Stones for a pittance and he went to City for the full valuation the following season.

Getting involved with Man Utd in transfers always has a downside.

Fortunately, backdoor deals are hopefully a thing of the past.

The club may have been ran piss poorly for the last few years and we've had many contract situations go tits up, shit players on loads of money, and piss poor recruitment. But we've got it spot on with Jarrad here, I have to say.

He's on £35K per week and is among the best centre-halves in the Premier League — we don't even have to bump it up. We can tell him to bugger off and keep him on £35K for another year to guarantee a decent Premier League finish then boom him off next summer for £60-80M.

(To keep him happy, I would offer a bigger contract personally, but we don't have to…)

It's a win-win and those scruffy Manc bastards can do one!! Unless they want to fork over £70M now, then we can play O'Brien and still be sound!

Sean #57,

Thing is, we want to keep him motivated and in the longer term, ideally keep him.

We'll have no chance to keep him long term (which should be our objective, particularly if we achieve financial solidity with new owners) if we dick him about.

Why not pay him £100k pw and recognise his status and keep a happy, motivated squad that wants to do well for Dyche?

Branthwaite got a new extended contract 18 months ago which I think raised his wages to £70k a week.

We shouldn't be getting sucked into any more mad inflated contracts following a touch of form.

Yes, he's quality right now, but could easily suffer an injury or Holgate style fall from grace. Need to get all of the wage bills in check.

Ben

We are hardly dicking him about — he's on £70k a week as of a new deal last year. If he decides he wants to leave, it will becto get honors — not cause he's in the poor house.

We can use our money to make the former possible or we can pay him even more and have less cash to improve the team as a whole in which case he'd leave anyway albeit richer… if this story is even true — which I highly doubt.

Kieran #61,

If he's on £70k per week then I agree and fair enough.

If he's on £35k as had been reported on the thread previously then I would say he's being underpaid.