On-loan Everton starlet Jarrad Branthwaite admits that he can't help but take notice of transfer links with Manchester United and arch rivals Liverpool.
The 20-year-old defender's strong second half of the season with Dutch giants PSV Eindhoven has made him the subject of a battle between some of world football's biggest clubs. An athletic, left-footed centre-back, United and Liverpool scouts have watched Branthwaite in action for Ruud van Nistelrooy's team, who're also scrapping for his signature alongside Jose Mourinho's Roma.
But when the England youth international sat down for an exclusive interview with Mirror Football this week, he insisted that he hasn't lost focus amid the simmering speculation. Having previously hinted that he's open to signing for PSV on a permanent basis - while he'd also be happy to return to his "brilliant" parent club, Everton - Branthwaite confessed: "I think when all of those clubs are interested and watching your games, it's gonna be one of them where you take notice.
"But for me it's just about playing the games. The first half of the season, I wasn't playing as many as I wanted, but now I'm just fully focussed on doing that and performing the best I can."
Regardless of how the in-demand loanee fares between now and May, a decision on his future won't be made until after the campaign ends and towards his 21st birthday in June. As for the meantime, Branthwaite is eyeing a league and cup double with a vibrant PSV outfit, all while keeping track of events on Merseyside.
New Everton boss Sean Dyche has led a mini resurgence at Goodison Park which looks on course to result in Premier League survival, and the former Burnley manager's reputation for getting the best out of defenders is an enticing prospect for Branthwaite. Should both his and Dyche's immediate futures be with the Toffees, the United, Liverpool and Roma target hopes that he can benefit from newfound stability at Goodison Park.
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"I hope so because I've been there three years now and I've had numerous managers, so for a young player it's hard to settle," Branthwaite, who's been in contact with Dyche in the weeks following his appointment, explained. "When a different manager comes in, you've got to try and impress, and when you're a young player it's not easy to get in the team.
"Obviously they're gonna pick the experienced players over you and that sort of thing. It's definitely something I'm hoping for, a bit of stability which will help not just me but also help other young players. And it'll help the team as well if we've got a manager which we know.
"You can see he's getting the results at home and he's had a decent few results away, so hopefully he brings us up the table. I'm looking forward to finishing the season here, playing the games and then seeing what happens and so on."
One thing which Branthwaite certainly wants next term is plenty of game time. Having joined Everton from home city club Carlisle United in January 2020 for fee which could rise to £1.5million, the Cumbrian hotshot has made only 13 senior appearances under three different managers, with most of his first-team experience coming on loan with Blackburn Rovers and now PSV.
Since the World Cup break, he's enjoyed a run of 15 starts for the Eredivisie title chasers and made himself a staple of Van Nistelrooy's first-choice XI both domestically and in the Europa League, scoring four goals to boot. "That was the main priority for coming out on loan - to play games," Branthwaite affirmed.
"The first half of the season, it didn't work how I wanted it to. Coming in, I didn't have a full pre-season to get ready for the league, and then when I came in, the players who'd had a full pre-season had trained well and the manager knew them. That was obviously a building period for me, so I worked hard in training to show the manager what I could do.
"The second half of the season, I've played every game since the restart. I think I played 10 games on the bounce at Blackburn and that was the longest run I've had, so now to play 15 games, it's a big thing. You learn with every game with the different situations you get put in, so I'm really enjoying it and it's good to continue playing."
