Everton have a long, frustrating history of offloading their top talents to other clubs.
Wayne Rooney outlines their greatest-ever export, snagged by Manchester United during their hour of financial need, but even more recently the likes of Romelu Lukaku, Ross Barkley and John Stones all jumped ship in search of something greater.
Whilst their respective successes have been varied, it still outlines a worrying trend that Kevin Thelwell will want to halt as soon as possible.
However, given their current financial issues, things could be worse than ever, and the likes of Jarrad Branthwaite and Amadou Onana represent perfect ‘get out of jail free cards’ to be sacrificed in order to make a quick buck.
Well, The Telegraph’s Luke Edwards has detailed such interest in the former, and would outline the following when speaking on the BBC’s Transfer Gossip Daily podcast.
The journalist claimed: ‘I think everybody’s keeping an eye on him. I think all the big clubs in the Premier League, the usual suspects, the rich ones, the ones who have the financial muscle to pluck players away.
‘Now, Real Madrid we are told are keeping an eye on him as well. I can see this totally making sense, I think he’s one of the best young prospects in Europe right now.
‘I can’t imagine they’re going to sell Branthwaite this month, I really can’t. I’m thinking we’re talking about £80m, £90m, £100m asking price to sign him.“He’s going to be in demand.’
However, he took his time to praise the Englishman too: ‘I love him, all the physical attributes you would want, he’s really come on leaps and bounds with Sean Dyche as his manager.
‘He’s going to be in demand, everyone will be scouting him and Everton know they’ve got a real precious jewel on their hands.’
Having only really burst onto the scene properly this campaign, it was been one of real progression for the 21-year-old, going from a young starlet with a handful of senior appearances, to a mainstay and arguably the first name on Sean Dyche’s team sheet.
His loan spell with PSV Eindhoven clearly prepared him well for the Premier League, but few could have predicted such a rapid and miraculous adaptation to what is widely regarded as the toughest division in world football.
However, with towering height and electric pace, the physical assets were already in place.
He is just fortunate to also be blessed with immense concentration and positional awareness, and in turn an uncanny ability to play the ball out from the back as well as clear his lines when necessary.
The perfect modern-day defender, it is no surprise that Dyche desperately wants to keep ahold of the England U21 international.
After all, his partnership with James Tarkowski is providing the bedrock with which all his side’s successes are built, as the defensive foundation that is thwarting plenty of opposition.
His contribution in that pairing is imperative, with the £35k-per-week titan recording an impressive two tackles, 4.6 clearances and 6.8 ball recoveries per game in the league, via Sofascore.
Should he maintain such form, which all signs suggest he will, the sky truly is the limit for Branthwaite. The only hope is that he can reach those heights at Goodison Park, rather than with one of the top clubs showing interest in him.
