Everton have been told their asking price for Jarrad Branthwaite is too high, with Andy Jacobs suggesting the defender is “not worth £70million”.
The England international has been the subject of transfer interest from Manchester United this summer, but the Toffees have rejected two bids for his signature as they are eager to keep him at Goodison [Liverpool Echo, 19 August].
Sean Dyche’s side have repeatedly insisted that the 22-year-old will only be sold if their asking price is met, but talkSPORT host Jacob has hit out at the Blues suggesting they’ve overvalued him.
Speaking on talkSPORT on Friday (23 August, 13:38) he said: “The price they want for him though, he’s a good player.
“I remember his first game against Chelsea but he’s not worth £70million.”
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Whether or not Branthwaite is worth £70million doesn’t really matter. The fact of the matter is that he is worth that sort of fee to the Toffees and unless somebody matches that valuation, he won’t be going anywhere.
Dyche’s side don’t want to lose arguably their most important player so late in the window and have therefore set his price high to try and stop any other clubs from securing the centre-back’s signature.
Hopefully, from a Blues’ perspective, nobody will come close to matching that valuation as it would be a nightmare to lose the defender at this stage of the summer with very little time to be able to find a replacement.
Should Branthwaite remain on Merseyside for the next year, the Toffees’ asking price is only going to get higher as he will have had another full Premier League campaign under his belt and surely also be an England regular.
If pundits and supporters are frustrated with the Blues’ valuation this transfer window, they definitely won’t be happy when next summer rolls around.
