strengthen his quota of Rangers centre-halves and little-known Carlisle United stopper Jarrad Branthwaite was considered.
Scouts were sent down the M74 to watch the towering youngster, who was only 17 at the time, however, it was Everton who made the first move.
The hesitancy has cost Rangers with Jarrad Branthwaite now showing the sort of form that could make him a late contender for Gareth Southgate’s England squad for the European Championships.
Rangers near miss as Jarrad Branthwaite aims for England
A fee in the region of £750,000 was paid to Carlisle and, after spending time developing – including a season at PSV Eindhoven – the 21-year old is now a regular in Sean Dyche’s team.
At 6ft 6inches tall, the England Under-21 international is an imposing figure and has played in all but two of Everton’s Premier League fixtures this season.
The player himself is hoping that his form has been enough to make Southgate think twice with the England manager in the stands to watch an impressive display against Newcastle United at the weekend.
Then Rangers manager Steven Gerrard signed George Edmundson instead of Jarrad Branthwaite and paid a similar fee.
Initial impressions were good in terms of physicality and distribution, however, he soon started to make too many mistakes and saw his game time all but disappear with Filip Helander and Leon Balogun ahead of him in the squad to partner Connor Goldson.
A valuation of around £30m has been reported as what Everton would look for with other Premier League clubs now sitting up and taking notice of a hugely talented home-grown player.
Had Rangers signed Jarrad Branthwaite, given his age at the time, he could have been classed as one of our own for UEFA quotas but the next step just wasn’t taken and he’s only been seen at Ibrox with PSV since.
Thankfully, they got it right the season after with Calvin Bassey but Branthwaite could well be one that we look at in years to come as the one that got away.
