Rovers have utilised the January window in order to acquire the services of highly rated Everton centre-back, Jarrad Branthwaite, on a loan deal until the end of the current campaign.
Branthwaite, who has earned suitors from across the Championship following his impressive displays for the Toffees in their games post-lockdown, decided to swap temporarily Goodison Park for Ewood Park after Blues boss Carlo Ancelotti gave the 18-year old the green light, following an injury-hit festive period within Everton’s defence.
The centre-half, who is predominantly left-footed and will wear the #30 shirt at Ewood Park, caught the eye of Rovers boss Tony Mowbray during the defender’s spell in the Toffees team towards the backend of last season and became the boss’s primary target in the New Year, after injuries ruled out both Scott Wharton and Derrick Williams until the end of the current campaign and Daniel Ayala, who is expected to miss, at least, the whole of January. With Rovers’ own injury crisis leaving them with only one fit senior centre-back, in skipper, Darragh Lenihan – who has recently seen Bradley Johnson fill in alongside him to mixed success – Branthwaite arrives at the perfect time in order to help halt Rovers’ mid-season slump down the table, which has come mainly as a result of a leaky backline.
The 6’5″ defender, arrives at Ewood Park with the blessings of Rovers former Academy Manager, Eric Kinder. When speaking to the Liverpool Echo at the start of the calendar year, the current Carlisle United Academy Manager – who worked with Branthwaite up until his departure from Brunton Park in January 2020 – labelled the defender as: “…naturally right-footed but both feet are exactly the same.”
The former Rover’s praise did not stop there, towards the versatile defender, as he highlighted Branthwaite’s potential by claiming that despite being ‘surprised’ at how well Branthwaite fared during his stint in the Everton first-team, he wasn’t shocked that at how quickly the 18-year old adapted to his surroundings, given his versatility and suitability after playing “(both) right-back and centre-back for us (at Carlisle United)”.
After turning professional with Carlisle at the age of 16, the defender spent a further year plying his trade in League Two with the Cumbrians, before swapping Cumbria for Merseyside in January 2020. Despite being a prominent member of Carlisle United’s matchday contingency throughout the end of 2018-19 and the start of 2019-20, the Cumbria-born defender was finally given his professional debut, by starting in a back-three in Carlisle’s 2-0 away defeat at Plymouth Argyle by then-manager Steven Pressley. Branthwaite then went on to make a further three starts for the Cumbrians before netting his first and only Carlisle goal in a 3-1 defeat away at Morecambe, which came in the EFL Trophy.
Although his stay within the League Two side’s defence was a short one, as his Premier League move came in the following January, Branthwaite managed to rack up 14 appearances in all competitions between late September and Boxing Day, which proved to be valuable experience at the young age of 17, as his move to Merseyside – which was reportedly settled for a fee of around £750,000-£1m including future incentives – beckoned.
Since his climb up the footballing tiers, Branthwaite had found himself predominantly partaking and continuing his development within Everton’s highly-rated under-23s side, prior to the postponement of football in March 2020. Up until that halt, Branthwaite only managed two appearances for the youth side. Despite that being out of his hands due to the worldwide events that occurred, Everton’s return to football saw the door open for Branthwaite as Carlo Ancelotti called upon the young defender’s services in June and July, amid the first-team squad’s shortage of defenders due to injury.
After turning 18 in June 2020, the defender saw his contract extended for an extra year, via a clause in his contract which now sees him remain a Toffee until 2023. That came before his introduction to Premier League football, however, which he took to like ‘duck to water’, post-lockdown. After finding himself on the bench for Everton’s first five games, the increased defensive injury list saw Branthwaite thrown in at the deep-end as he made his Everton and Premier League debut as a half-time substitution when Everton were 2-0 down, as Ancelotti’s side eventually went on to lose 3-0 away at Wolverhampton Wanderers. After making another cameo appearance, this time for just 16 minutes in a 1-1 home draw with Aston Villa, Branthwaite’s first Premier League start and clean sheet beckoned as he helped the Blues keep Sheffield United at bay and emerge with a 1-0 away victory. His impressive performance at Bramall Lane saw him remain in the side for Bournemouth as the Cherries succumbed to relegation, despite a 3-1 triumph at Goodison Park. Despite ending the season in defeat, the 241 minutes of Premier League experience Branthwaite gained was surely invaluable and will prove key during his time at Ewood. The first-half of 2020-21 has seen the defender remain in and around Everton’s first-team squad, as he has made sporadic bench appearances, however his only donning of the famous Blue shirt came in Everton’s 3-0 Carabao Cup Second Round victory over Salford City, which took place in mid-September. That start ended in premature disappointment for the young defender, however as his first showing of the season only lasted 24 minutes, as he was soon withdrawn from the field due to an ankle injury which saw him remain sidelined until early November.
In November 2020, Branthwaite’s high stock earned him a call-up to the England Under-19s training camp which was scheduled in-place of their postponed fixtures against Scotland, due to COVID-19. The defender’s time with the Three Lions will see him arrive at Ewood Park seeing one familiar face, at least, in Harvey Elliott, who was also part of the aforementioned England setup.
In terms of what Branthwaite can add from a fans perspective, the defender seems like the ideal candidate to help propel Rovers to the next level, regardless of his relative inexperience in comparison to other members of Rovers’ defensive unit. If Branthwaite can hit the ground running and strike up an ideal partnership with Darragh Lenihan, then Rovers could end up potentially springing a few surprises in the second-half of the campaign. Branthwaite’s arrival could also open the door for Tony Mowbray to potentially look at evolving Rovers’ system into a ‘back-five’, in order to try and build a solid defensive foundation, if he so wishes to experiment, once the likes of Daniel Ayala has returned.
Given that the deal has been concluded prior to Friday’s midday (12pm) deadline, Branthwaite could possibly make his debut in the Blue and White halves as early as Saturday’s home tie against Stoke City, as Rovers look to refocus their attentions back on the league and try and avenge December’s 1-0 away defeat.
