After ‘fantastic’ Everton youngster suffers blow, Brands’ next job is crystal clear

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Everton’s 3-0 win over Salford City on Wednesday evening was sadly stained by a crushing blow to young defender Jarrad Branthwaite.

The impressive 18-year-old – who his former manager Steven Pressley described as ‘fantastic’ to The Herald – went over on his ankle and was forced to leave the field after just 20 minutes of action.

‘He’s a fantastic kid with a great family, so he is really grounded and humble and is focused on becoming the best player he can be,’ Pressley said.

Lucas Digne was consequently required to fill in at centre-back, despite being a natural left-back.

Another youngster in Lewis Gibson was not available to deputise, as he is being lined up for a loan switch to Huddersfield and was not named in the squad according to The Liverpool Echo.

Additionally, Carlo Ancelotti was also without the injured Mason Holgate, who is struggling with a toe problem.

Alarmingly, that leaves Michael Keane and Yerry Mina as the Toffees’ only centre-back options.

In that respect, sporting director Marcel Brands’ next mission should be crystal clear to him – sign a centre-back, and fast.

The Guardian reported that talks were being held with Chelsea over a loan deal for Fikayo Tomori, but that has gone slightly cold of late.

Regardless of that, a new centre-back is a huge priority.

Should something happen to Mina or Keane before the West Brom game this weekend, Ancelotti will have to throw a complete wildcard into his back line. Something the Italian presumably won’t want to do.

You could argue that the right-wing role needs strengthening too.

There has been interest in Bayer Leverkusen’s Leon Bailey according to Sky Sports, and also Wilfried Zaha as reported by the Sun.

However, that must be put on ice for now.

If Brands didn’t immediately jump on the phone to try to secure Ancelotti a new centre-back after Branthwaite went off, then he would already have wasted enough time.

This is an urgent matter for the Toffees, and one which needs sorting quickly.