Sean Dyche claims he doesn’t want to sell Jarrad Branthwaite.
Everton defender Branthwaite is wanted by Saturday’s opponents Manchester United and the England Under-21 defender is having a fine season for the Blues.
Cashing in on the 21-year-old would help Everton’s money problems as they wait for 777 Partners’ protracted takeover to go through, but Dyche says they are not interested.
“We don’t want to sell any good players,” said the Blues boss. “It’s as simple as that and he’s proven to be a very good player. We’re not in the business of trying to sell players.
“You only sell players if you have to sell players or there’s a problem. There’s no problem, therefore I’m just hoping we don’t need to sell players. At the minute, we certainly don’t so we will see.”
Marcel Sabitzer completes Man Utd transfer after last-minute deadline day dashBranthwaite has nailed down a place in the heart of Everton’s defence and will make his 31st appearance of his breakthrough Premier League season at Old Trafford.
Branthwaite, who came through at his hometown club Carlisle, spent the last campaign on loan at PSV Eindhoven and Dyche says he knew from when he first saw him in pre-season that he was special.
Dyche, who was a centre-half too as a player, claims sometimes the hardest part of coaching is taking a step back and letting youngsters develop themselves.
“What I saw of him, I liked,” he said. “When the timing was right, I thought ‘go on then, go and enjoy it, go and have a go’. I didn’t have to say anything to him, just go and play.
“He’s adapted well. There are things he still needs to work on, but you unravel a player slowly, you can’t just fast-track everything into them and say ‘that’s it’.So while he’s developing nicely and while he’s learning, sometimes the hardest thing is not to coach at all when you just step away and go ‘no, no, you’re fine, you keep doing what you’re doing’.
“There’s the odd little team, tactical pointers, but I’m not breaking it down every game and saying ‘you’ve got to do this, you’ve got to do that’. Let him naturally learn as he develops.”
Dyche says Branthwaite is also learning from former England defenders James Tarkowski and Michael Keane. “I’m sure he is,” he said. “You learn from the environment and culture, I hope he does. That’s part of what we set.
“It’s not just about words, it’s about the rubbing off of what we’re about and then there are the players, they are some very good experienced players here.
“There are some very good professionals, so I’m sure he’s learning. I don’t sit and talk to him about it and unravel it all. Now and again, we have a little chat, but nothing out of the ordinary.”
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