Today marks the start of Harvey Elliott and Curtis Jones’ U21 European Championship campaign, and high hopes are placed on the Liverpool team as they look to win the competition for England.
But at the end of the summer, it might not just be Jones and Elliott representing this England side while donning the Liverpool colours. It would make sense to try to entice some of the top prospects from this U21 squad to Anfield given the dynamic nature of the squad and the fact that Liverpool lost several homegrown players this summer.
especially considering that Liverpool has previously been connected with a few of Elliott and Jones’ colleagues.
Jarrad Branthwaite, who has had a strong season on loan at PSV Eindhoven, is a player in whom Liverpool is interested, according to Daily Mirror report from earlier this season. Manchester United and the Reds will ‘fight’ for his services.
Branthwaite, who was Cody Gakpo‘s brief teammate, would make sense for Liverpool because he can play in a variety of back four positions and possesses the height and speed necessary to play in Jürgen Klopp’s high line.
Branthwaite would make a lot of sense for Liverpool on paper given his young age and strong previous season. He would now be considered a “free” under-21 player in terms of squad registration, but if he passes that age limit, he will be considered a homegrown player and may fill the vacuum left in the lineup by players like Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and James Milner. Next season, Jones will be old enough to make a first-time claim to one of those seats, although there is still a bit of a shortage.
Not to mention that Branthwaite prefers to play left-sided center-back and has a left foot, making him a perfect cover for van Dijk’s position in the defence. There are many similarities between his play and Liverpool’s Dutch star, who stands at a towering 1.96 metres.
Only a long-standing rivalry stands in Liverpool’s way. Branthwaite still belongs to the Reds’ fierce rivals, Everton, despite the fact that he established his reputation at PSV this season.
Furthermore, Everton is unlikely to permit his departure for Anfield.
There hasn’t been a single first team move between the two clubs in the past 20 years. The most recent occurred in 2002 when Liverpool acquired Abel Xavier from Everton.
Therefore, breaking a transfer pattern that has persisted for the past 20 years in order to sign Branthwaite would require some major negotiating prowess from people like Jörg Schmadtke, who might be engaged in this deal.
Given his intriguing skill and how someone like Gakpo has integrated into Liverpool from PSV, the work might just be worthwhile for Branthwaite, though. He would undoubtedly instantly become a hero in the eyes of many fans by merely joining the team.
He is currently just someone to watch as England continues its run in the U21 European Championships.