Jarrad Branthwaite Commitment the Biggest Step on the Right Path

"My long-term goal, 100 percent, is to play for Everton's first-team in front of the great crowds at Goodison. That would be my dream."

That was 17-year-old Jarrad Branthwaite after joining the Toffees in 2020 and he certainly achieved that ambition. As the defender wandered around the famous old ground during the Blues farewell to Goodison Park in May, he’d just made his 85th appearance for Everton and received applause and adulation from a fanbase who know his importance to the team.

Having ticked off his early career aims, there is no doubt Branthwaite’s next mission, like every footballer, will be to lift silverware. When you consider he’s interesting clubs who could likely make that wish come true in 2026, it’s a huge boost that the defender is close to signing a new five-year deal with Everton, according to reports in late June.

Branthwaite has been described as a generational talent and is certainly one of the best players I’ve seen in an Everton shirt. Wayne Rooney was an otherworldly phenomenon while John Stones was a natural. Branthwaite looks a similarly complete player in regards to always making the right decision on the pitch while his composure and reading of the game has led some to claim he is a better defender than Stones was at the same age.

The 23-year-old centre-back has been playing with a smile on his face and the fact he sees his immediate future at Bramley Moore, representing the Toffees in the new Hill Dickinson Stadium on the waterfront, allows the Blues to take an almighty step onto the right path.

During the last decade, too many wrong turns pushed the club close to the brink. Financial losses were incurred and Everton’s proud top-flight standing was constantly at risk.

However, this summer marks a reset with the Friedkin ownership group and David Moyes back at the helm. After several seasons battling relegation which stemmed from an eyesore of a recruitment plan, Evertonians long to see green shoots of recovery this season and in Jarrad Branthwaite, roots can certainly be put down to grow again.

Now a five-year deal doesn’t automatically keep Branthwaite in the royal blue until 2030 but it does give Everton the time to build a side that can compete and ensure the defender is part of a team playing at the top.

Behind the scenes, the club has a great deal to do this summer with a hefty number of players out of contract and so it’s going to be a giant job which won’t be complete in year one. However, in Branthwaite and Jordan Pickford, they have two players there who are locked in and as close to perfect as you’re going to get.

You wonder whether Pickford, who will be 32 next March, might have an eye on a season back with his beloved Sunderland before he hangs his gloves up but that’s merely conjecture and so for a long while yet, he will be Everton’s reliable, dependable and points-winning number one.

With Pickford in goal and Branthwaite at centre-back, that’s two positions in the team you simply don’t have to worry about. To an extent, the forward role Iliman Ndiaye takes up is another position in that boxed off bracket as he is a key playmaker who can deliver results.

James Tarkowski and Idrissa Gana Gueye are also capable of pushing the club on, though they won’t be around forever, and then there are players like Jake O’Brien and Dwight McNeil who are at a good age, years before their prime, and can give a consistent level to help Everton climb back into the top ten which will be the aim next season.

So, looking at the starting XI, that leaves a number of spots where, as a fan, you hope the club can find other Pickfords and Branthwaites who are at the very top level and can give sterling performances every week. It’s easier said than done however.

Throughout Moyes’ first spell at Everton, the team always featured five or six players who were good enough to win trophies.

However, due to finances and the lay of the land, the Blues never had eleven of those names in the same team because oftentimes, as one top player arrived, one or two would be sold, with Rooney, Joleon Lescott, Arteta and Marouane Fellaini all moving on and lifting silverware elsewhere.

In 2008, who knows if a Sebastien Frey fumble for Fiorentina at Goodison would have seen the Toffees reach the UEFA Cup final against a Zenit Saint Petersburg they had beaten in the group stage. And on another day, could an Everton side featuring a fit Phil Jagielka, Mikel Arteta and Yakubu have got the better of Chelsea at Wembley in the 2009 FA Cup final?

Fifteen years ago, the Toffees had winning players, just not enough of them at the same time and that’s the challenge facing the Everton of today. Can the club swiftly build a side where each player in every position is capable of matching the level of Pickford and Branthwaite week in, week out to take the Toffees to the top of the table and showpiece finals on an annual basis?

It doesn’t spell disaster if it can’t be achieved but it would be an incredible outcome. Right now, I wouldn’t sell Jarrad Branthwaite for all the money in the world as I think a team without him is weaker than a team with him. However, down the line, cashing in a giant offer could be beneficial and so you have to weigh it up.

What can be said is that Everton have tied an exceptional talent down to a five-year deal before and they can learn a great deal from how that one played out almost a decade ago.

In 2014, Romelu Lukaku joined permanently from Chelsea and banged in the goals for fun. Every time he hit the back of the net for Roberto Martinez’s side, you were more certain he was destined to win titles and Golden Boots galore. For a plethora of reasons though, it became clear to the player that Everton could not keep pace with his trajectory and so in 2017, he was off.

“Everton as a football club has a great history,” he said in the March leading up to the summer transfer window. “But the future has to be written. You get me? Because we always talk about the teams of the 80s and 70s, and if you look it was great. But we as players, we want the fans talking about us instead of us talking about them.

“Obviously, stuff is changing and stuff is happening but there were some players that we could have got, that I knew the club could have got, and they didn't get. They are playing in this league. I am not saying names but they are doing well.”

Though Lukaku’s move to Manchester United didn’t yield success, he has since won the league with Inter and then Napoli and made his dream a reality.

So, could Everton have built a team to keep Lukaku happy and prove they had a side capable of matching his ambition? Maybe, and as the striker alluded to, there were certainly some players who could have signed and improved the team.

What was most galling for supporters wasn’t the fact Everton sold Lukaku but rather the failure to replace the striker after doing a deal for an initial £75million.

Under Ronald Koeman, Olivier Giroud opted against a switch to Merseyside and then the transfer window shut without a replacement.

Over time, Dominic Calvert-Lewin, who had joined as a young centre forward for £1.5m in 2016, developed into a fine targetman but is far from a regular scorer. Though he netted 21 times in Carlo Ancelotti’s one full campaign, injuries and lack of form mean he’s not got near to that total since.

Sandro Ramirez, Cenk Tosun, Salomon Rondon and Neal Maupay all followed in the years since Lukaku but were second rate, failing to score close to double figures in the Premier League. There was Moise Kean too, a marquee striker signing from Juventus who never got anywhere near up to speed at Goodison.

Supporters are optimistic the new owners will better appreciate the need to replace star players and work in an alternate way to how the club has operated for 30 years.

Stability is the first need while the finances brought by the Friedkins, together with the stadium move, should give the club a platform to thrive and compile a balanced squad boasting genuine quality. Things just have to be done differently this time around.

Everton are in a position now where they have to act quick and smart to build a top team around Branthwaite. If progress can’t be as swift as required, then the club has to be prepared and ready to adequately replace the centre-back so that performances and results don’t suffer.

For the first time in a long while, Everton can plan ahead and lay down foundations for success as opposed to the recruitment team only putting fires out with one arm tied behind their back.

Branthwaite’s decision to commit will no doubt be the top signing this summer. It’s a huge positive, acts as security and puts the club in a place of strength and power. Regardless of whether the defender plays for a season or stays for a full five years and beyond, it’s a signature which allows Everton to move forward. After so many seasons of struggle, that in itself is major progress.

An Everton season ticket holder and football writer, you can subscribe to all of Ell Bretland's work at https://ellbretland.substack.com