Speculation surrounding the England defender’s future has increased after he dropped down the pecking order for the national team, with debutant Dan Burn favoured for last week’s Albania assignment.
The i Paper understands that Manchester United remain interested in Branthwaite – as do Liverpool and Tottenham, while Newcastle have discussed him in the past – but that Everton are in no mood to sell a player who is under contract until 2027 as they contemplate wholesale changes in the close season. Indeed any bids for the defender would need to come close to the £80m valuation that they set last summer to even begin the conversation.
David Moyes has been handed greater transfer powers at Everton (Photo: Getty)
With The Friedkin Group having restructured Everton’s debt and their Profitability and Sustainability Rules (PSR) position having eased significantly, the club are in a much stronger position to resist offers for their best players this summer. Their position on Branthwaite is also informed by the scale of churn expected in Moyes’s group, with departures set to hit double figures.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s situation remains unresolved – the chances are he will now depart at the end of the season – while the club’s decision not to trigger an option in Abdoulaye Doucoure’s deal means he may yet leave too.
The significant turnover is one of the reasons why Everton would be so reluctant to sell Branthwaite, who is one of the players Moyes wants to build his reshaped Toffees side around.
But the word coming from inside the club is that times are changing. Expect a more “aggressive” Everton this summer – and that extends to those who think they can unsettle and sign the likes of Branthwaite.
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Read MoreAfter a fairly low-key start to life under The Friedkin Group, we can expect a bit more tubthumping when new chief executive Angus Kinnear gets to work later this year. The word is that the relative silence from the top on the club’s ambitions in future years is deliberate: they want to leave space for Kinnear and company to stamp their mark.
It feels like the days of scratching around the bargain bin for the likes of Neal Maupay are over for the club. Surely that is something Branthwaite will be part of, too.
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