Rangers and Celtic are reportedly keen on Jarrad Branthwaite.
Rangers and Celtic have both been linked with Carlisle United defender Jarrad Branthwaite – and one man with a foot in both camps has hailed him.
Branthwaite, 17, has stepped up into the Carlisle side this season, and has impressed in League Two, making 14 appearances already this season.
The giant centre back is already attracting major interest, with the News and Star claiming last month that Arsenal, Manchester City, Rangers and Celtic are all interested.
Rangers landed one young defender from League Two over the summer in George Edmundson, so them making a move to bring Branthwaite to Ibrox may be a surprise.
Celtic may make more sense for Branthwaite, developing him behind the pairing of Kristoffer Ajer and Christopher Jullien before bringing him into the first team.
They will have to pay £800,000 to sign Branthwaite according to the Daily Mail, with Everton already having a £500,000 offer rejected.
One man well-placed to talk about Branthwaite and the Old Firm is Steven Pressley, who managed Carlisle for most of 2019, and turned out for both Celtic and Rangers in his playing days, and he’s now offered his view on Branthwaite to the Glasgow Evening Times.
Pressley is confident that Branthwaite will become an England international, and believes that either side would make ’20 times’ the £800,000 fee, urging them to strike a ‘no-brainer’ deal for the teenage defender before anybody else does – and whilst neither Old Firm side have contacted him, he wants them to make a move.
“Since leaving Carlisle I’ve had numerous phone calls about him from English Premier League and Championship clubs,” said Pressley. “He is on the radar of so many clubs down south, so it’s no surprise to me that Celtic and Rangers would be looking at him too. I haven’t heard from either side of the Old Firm yet, but if you are asking me if I think they should act quickly to get him during this window, then I would say absolutely.”
“Some people might baulk at the transfer fee it would take to get him, and yes, you might not ideally want to pay that kind of money for a 17-year-old. But trust me, it’s the best investment they could make. The model on both sides of the Old Firm just now is to identify young talent that will help them in the short term and make them money in the long term, and Jarrad is exactly the type of player they should be looking at.”
“Whatever they pay for him just now, they will make 20 times that down the line. He’s that good. He’s got everything you need to be a top defender. He’s six foot four, he’s quick, and he can absolutely play. You wouldn’t know what foot is his preferred one really, because he’s so comfortable on the ball. For me, he is a future England internationalist. No question about it. That’s how highly I rate him. He’ll go to the very top of the game. As I said, his all-round game is so good that it is difficult to pick out many flaws, if any. If I was at either Celtic or Rangers, it would be a no-brainer for me to go and sign this kid,” he added.
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