Amazing ace drawing interest from teams for a transfer, but a guest at a Man City game may shift the topic of discussion about the Everton player since…

Royal Blue: Everton FC correspondent Joe Thomas takes some time out from the serious talk engulfing the club to look at the rising star whose growing stature needs to be enjoyed

There was a collective wince in the Everton side of the press box when Erling Haaland barrelled his way to his and Manchester City’s second goal last weekend.

The sight of Jarrad Branthwaite falling as he tried, against the odds, to halt his momentum, was one that we instantly knew would feature on highlights reels around the world and used to further fuel the myth of the unstoppable striker.

It was an unfortunate split second for the young centre back in a breakthrough year that has seen remarkably few mistakes from a 21-year-old supposedly still learning the game.

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Branthwaite hitting the floor in the closing stages at the Etihad Stadium was a talking point during and after the game but it would be unfair to judge his performance on that moment alone. The incident was particularly frustrating because he had marshalled the world’s most potent striker with genuine success for the vast majority of the match to that point.

Branthwaite was central to an impressive defensive display that prevented a Manchester City shot on target for 71 minutes. There were moments of threat before then but none that materialised into anything approaching a clear cut opportunity – Branthwaite extending a leg to dispossess Haaland just as he

thought he was through on goal one of those close shaves that he helped prevent. Branthwaite’s shackling of Haaland was so impressive because it had not been planned. The pair were clearly destined for a game-long duel from the early minutes but if any part of this was deliberate, it was Pep Guardiola’s call and not Sean Dyche’s.