Everton manager Sean Dyche has acknowledged that the club would struggle to reject a substantial offer from Manchester United or other clubs for defender Jarrad Branthwaite in the January transfer window. Dyche expressed uncertainty regarding whether the expected acquisition of the club by the Friedkin Group would alleviate Everton’s financial woes.
With no assurance that the Premier League will greenlight the takeover prior to the opening of the transfer market, Everton find themselves in a precarious position. It’s something that United could take advantage of.
Despite having signed Leny Yoro and Matthijs de Ligt over the summer, the club reportedly maintain an interest in Branthwaite, having had two bids rejected in the summer. Everton set a price tag of £75 million for the defender.
While it seems improbable that United would now be willing to meet such a valuation given their own PSR concerns, Dyche did not dismiss the possibility of selling high-value players during the transfer window as speculation of a move to Old Trafford re-emerges.
“I don’t know any of their [new owners] plans, their thoughts or feelings about the club at this time or the finance,” he said, via the Mirror. “So that would clearly be a new decision.”
“The current decision would be that it is likely that if somebody bid enough money for any player – by the way forget about Jarrad it is not relevant [just to mention] Jarrad – any player at this football club as you have seen over the last couple of windows.”
“If someone offers enough money then they go. Alex Iwobi was like that a day or so before the deadline [in summer 2023]. I didn’t want to lose Alex but they said ‘Look, this is a deal we’ve got to do.'”
“I said ‘ok’ and that’s the way it goes so therefore I better mould it towards the next lot of players and how many I can get in and use. If the number’s right the player gets sold if the number isn’t right they don’t.”
He added:”It certainly won’t be anything to do with me – bids for the players. Any bids for the players will not be anything to do with me. You know – or you can imagine – the financial situation here.
“So we have already had to sell players here I didn’t want to sell. That is just part of the current business of the club.”
Dyche explained that the young defender had missed the start of the season due to a groin injury sustained in the summer. He made a comeback in Everton’s first win of the season against Crystal Palace in September, only to pick up a thigh injury during training.
Recently back in the squad for the last two games, Branthwaite is yet to start as Dyche has kept faith with Michael Keane and James Tarkowski at the back. However, Dyche insists that he is carefully managing Branthwaite’s return to the team.
“Just using Jarrad as a point in case, making sure his fitness is definitely rather than maybe. Because I thought he was may be fit enough the last time he went in, and he come out and got injured.
“So on that occasion, because I was the one saying I don’t think he’s right to play, let’s leave it another week, but everyone felt no we should.
“And that was our decision not his because he wants to play, of course he does, and so do other players.
“But sometimes you have to make the hardest decision and that one is to not play someone. And that is the harder decision when everyone is telling you you should do something, the hardest one is when you do nothing. Trust me that is the hardest thing in football management.”