There's an exclusive being reported today by Football Insider that Newcastle United are interested in signing Eveton's 21-year-old center-back Jarrad Branthwaite, who has been capped 4 times by the England U21 side.

The Carlisle-born youngster, who stands 6ft 5ins tall (it must be those hamburgers) has been in fine form for the Toffees this season and looks an excellent defender in the making.

The player started his career at his hometown club Carlisle United (14 games, one goal) before moving to Everton in 2022 and since then has played 25 times for the Toffees with one goal.

He did get playing time on loan at Blackburn (10 games) and PSV last season (36 games - 4 goals)) so he has played 86 games with 7 goals in total.

His contract runs through June 2027, so it will be interesting to see how much Everton want for him in January - if indeed they are willing to sell him at all - but money talks.

Football Insider are reporting that Eddie Howe is a big fan of the center-back.

It looks like the season on loan at PSV last season, where he was a regular starter, did the lad a lot of good.

He has quickly cemented his place in Everton's starting lineup and has looked solid in the games we have watched.

Football Insider reports that we have been looking for a long-term successor to Fabian Schar, but Branthwaite is left-footed?

However the 21-year-old does have pace, and that's something that's missing in our central defense at the moment.

The Football Insiders report that "Howe is eager to do the deal in January, but such an agreement will only be possible if the structure of the transfer is right."

This is the exact type of young player we should be going after - someone who has shown definite early promise.

And Eddie Howe and his coaching team can make him into a powerful England International defender at Newcastle in a year or two.

Certainly, his physical stature is there, and he's shown he's a tough defender at the Toffees.

He would fit right into Newcastle's defense.

And even Alan Shearer thinks he's a great prospect, as he had this to say recently on the Premier League website after Everton beat West Ham 1-0 on 29th October:

"Magnificent at the back. Nothing got past him against West Ham."

What do you think about this?

Comments welcome.

Blog Note:

I have had a number of messages from readers recently complaining about other readers putting out dubious comments. Can you please try to handle these yourselves - I just don't have the energy or strength to do this, and Neil is no longer involved with the blog - I hope you understand - thanks for your help on this.