David Moyes wants Everton to bring in more players of Jarrad Branthwaite’s quality as he looks to build a side capable of keeping the defender at the club for the long term.
Branthwaite signed a new five-year contract last summer, keeping him at Everton until 2030 after a period in which his future had been the subject of considerable speculation.
Manchester United had two bids rejected in the summer of 2024 and Moyes says securing Branthwaite’s future was an important part of Everton’s move into the Hill Dickinson.
“We’ve got him on a really good long contract now,” Moyes said. “So my idea is that we build and we bring more players of that level in, which makes Jarrad want to stay and that makes him realise that we’re building a team, which is going to be improving.
“We have to show those players, and we have to show people like Jarrad Branthwaite, that we are going to make those steps to continue to step forward.”
Moyes pleased with Branthwaite progress
Keeping Branthwaite was only part of the challenge. Injury problems followed and Everton have been careful with the centre-back’s workload since his return.
Moyes left him out of the midweek Carabao Cup win over Wolves but says the 24-year-old is now capable of playing twice in a week when required.
“We’ve paced him through pre-season,” Moyes said. “We didn’t play him in all the games, we kept him out if we were playing Saturday, Wednesday in the early part.
“We didn’t use him in midweek here, at the moment, but he’s ready to play if he has to play Saturday, Wednesday football.”
Moyes also praised Everton’s medical staff and Branthwaite himself for the work that has gone into managing the problem.
“Jarrad’s looked after himself really well and, if anything, I think when you have an injury like Jarrad’s it makes you even more professional,” he said.
“So I think in some ways it’s made Jarrad realise that he’ll need to really look after himself at the right times. But it’s just that he’s got such acceleration and speed. He’s had a couple of hamstring injuries which hopefully are solved.”
Moyes has never hidden his opinion of Branthwaite’s potential. Having fought to keep him and then carefully managed his return, the next part of the plan is straightforward: improve the team around him.
Full details of Moyes’s comments are available in the Liverpool Echo.
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