Jarrad Branthwaite's Everton return cannot be underestimated

(Photo by George Wood/Getty Images)

When Everton’s squad — or at least, the vast majority of them — returned to Finch Farm last Friday for pre-season testing, there was the usual excitement on social media as the club shared images and videos of the players getting back to work.

Everton’s behind the scenes video on YouTube, meanwhile, showed happy and smiling faces across the board at Finch Farm. Amid transfer speculation and rumours of unhappy players, it’s easy to forget that these are just young men turning up for work. Not everything is as doom and gloom as it's made out to be.

It was great to see two “new” faces, too. Tyrique George may have played for Everton last term, but he is now a permanent member of the squad, while Hayden Hackney is completely fresh, and it’s fantastic to have two additions in the door for the start of pre-season, even if we’d have all liked one or two more in an ideal world.

But above all, one player’s return should really get Evertonians’ blood pumping.

Jarrad Branthwaite was involved fully in the first day of testing, and for the first time since he became a regular first-team fixture at Everton in 2023-24, the centre-back is set to take a full part in pre-season.

It also looks like he has taken a new number; all of the training kit he was wearing featured the number 4. Finally, a proper squad number for a star player.

When Branthwaite sustained a season-ending hamstring injury in April, there were initially concerns he wouldn’t return until the eve of the new campaign.

However, once it was confirmed surgery would not be required, that timescale shifted to the end of July.

And once Branthwaite headed off to Munich for specialist treatment and rehab, it soon became apparent he could return ahead of schedule.

Thankfully, his recovery has gone swimmingly. Now, the 24-year-old is at a key juncture in his career. 

The idea he is injury prone is perhaps an unfair one. Yes, he managed just 10 appearances last term, making only 7 starts and featuring for just 681 minutes. And, that disrupted season came on the back of Branthwaite going down injured late on in the 2024-25 campaign. 

However, he had made 32 appearances across 2024-25, and in 2023-24, he played 41 times, all of those being starts.

He played over 2,500 minutes in 2024-25 and over 3,500 minutes in 2023-24.

Yet what Branthwaite hasn’t really had is a proper pre-season. In 2023, he came back late after playing for England at the Under-21s Euros, and was also carrying a slight niggle before he was eventually thrust in by Sean Dyche, who had little choice, given the dismal start Michael Keane had made to that season.

In summer 2024, Branthwaite was injured again. Everton dallied on surgery and eventually it resulted in a disrupted start to the 2024-25 campaign, with the defender taking some part in pre-season, but missing most of it and then not being able to play until two months into the season proper.

Then last year, Branthwaite had another staggered summer, eventually returning to play against Roma in the final pre-season friendly, only to then break down in training the following week.

Now, though, Branthwaite doesn’t have any catching up to do. Fitness wise, he isn’t far off anybody else. It has been a particularly long summer break, with most of the squad having around 6 weeks off. Those who were on international duty but did not go to the World Cup, like Jake O’Brien and Vitaliy Mykolenko, should be reporting next week, while Iliman Ndiaye and Nathan Patterson will get a little longer before they return.

But having Branthwaite in the ranks from the first minute of pre-season can only be a good thing. And his impact cannot be underestimated. 

For all the faults of David Moyes and Everton’s squad, particularly in the run-in, it is hard to imagine the drop-off being quite so stark had Branthwaite not got injured. 

Let’s keep everything crossed that his issues are finally behind him.

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