Manchester United might not recognise the true value of Jarrad Branthwaite but Evertonians do. As the Blues prepare to embark on a bright new era at their magnificent-looking 52,888 capacity stadium which staged its first fixture last Monday and will enable the club to play in front of their biggest regular crowds in their history, Branthwaite remains their most-prized asset.

An imposing physical specimen, he’s like a footballing version of Gaston from Beauty and the Beast – without the rampaging ego – but while he regularly beasts (and bests) top Premier League strikers, there is also beauty to his game too.

Although he possesses the natural physicality to dominate even the most muscular of opponents, there is silk as well as steel to the 22-year-old’s play.

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We often here the phrase of larger players being either “light on their feet” or “comfortable on the ball” for a big man, as if anyone over six feet tall should somehow struggle while in possession but 6ft 5in Branthwaite often makes playing look easy.

He can drive forwards out from the back four and pick a pass in a manner many Premier League centre-halves are unaccustomed to – just look at the free kick pass he threaded through to Beto to open the scoring in the Merseyside Derby. It's precisely why he's got the nickname 'The Carlisle Kaiser'.

The footballing god originally given ‘Der Kaiser’ moniker, future West Germany World Cup-winning captain Franz Beckenbauer scored in the game which in terms of what was at stake, was the biggest in Goodison Park’s 133-year history when he netted in his country’s 2-1 victory over the Soviet Union in the semi-finals of the 1966 tournament.

On that occasion, angry stay-away fans ensured the attendance was over 20,000 down on the crowd for a group game at the ground between Portugal and Brazil because the last four encounters were switched less than 48 hours before kick-off, denying Merseyside spectators the chance to see England up close.

In terms of the ‘School of Science’ tradition at Everton though, Branthwaite is more the natural heir to the legendary T.G. Jones. Writing in Gwladys Street’s Blue Book, produced to celebrate Everton becoming the first club to play 100 seasons in English football’s top flight, Gordon Watson, who served at Goodison Park both on and off the pitch across seven decades, gave the Wales international a five-star rating and described him as thus...

“Forget about Bobby Moore and John Charles, TG Jones was the most polished British defender of all time. His aristocratic style and uncommon ability to stroke the ball around when under pressure seduced football purists.

“TG even headed corner-kicks back to Ted Sagar. I called him ‘Cryogenic Jones.’

“His fame spread worldwide, and Everton tentatively accepted a massive bid from Roma. The transfer negotiations collapsed but his reputation lived on.

“I remember walking home with Brian Labone after he’d had a particularly good game only for the England centre-half to be informed by an old fan that he wasn’t a patch on TG.”

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Jones’ heading trick it seems was repeated by Branthwaite with an audacious piece of skill in Saturday’s 2-2 draw against Manchester United. Despite having Rasmus Hojlund bearing down on him as the ball was spinning out for what looked like a certain corner-kick, the Everton defender casually flexed his neck muscles to head the ball back into goalkeeper Jordan Pickford’s hands in a spectacular example of close control akin to a circus trick from a performing seal.

After a somewhat patchy start this term in terms of both fitness and form after he rose to prominence as the Blues’ breakthrough star of last season, Branthwaite is now getting back towards his imperious best that made him such a fan-favourite at Goodison in the previous campaign.

Indeed, when manager David Moyes was asked about him in his pre-match press conference to preview the fixture against Manchester United, he pulled no punches.

The Blues boss remarked on how he thinks Branthwaite has got an awful lot going for him and has got a really good mentor alongside him in James Tarkowski “who has been round the league a little bit and seen a lot of it,” adding: “If people want to buy Jarrad, bring a big bag of money.”

United themselves were very prominent suitors for the England international last summer but despite what were obvious briefings from inside Old Trafford over their pursuit of Branthwaite, with high-handed declarations of how they wouldn’t be “held to ransom,” they never got close to matching a valuation that would tempt Everton.

Maybe it was a case of the Red Devils misjudging the financial position as Farhad Moshiri looked to offload his controlling stake and incorrectly believing that a fire sale was imminent or perhaps it was just another example of Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s increasingly notorious parsimonious approach but United were just wasting everyone’s time and annoying their Blues counterparts with derisory bids of £35million plus add-ons in June and then £45million plus add-ons in July.

All this was against the backdrop that Everton insisted they would not be bullied into selling Branthwaite on the cheap and were actively planning on having him with them for this season unless a mega offer came in.

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Given the £80million fee that Manchester United paid for Harry Maguire in 2019, the £75million Chelsea paid for Wesley Fofana in 2022 and the £77million Manchester City paid for Josko Gvardiol in 2023, Goodison Park chiefs considered Branthwaite to be in the same bracket, especially given the premium for both left-footed defenders and homegrown talent.

Curiously, despite their reluctance to put their hands in their pockets for Branthwaite, United still splashed out £52million on Lille’s teenage centre-back Leny Yoro and £38.5million plus add-ons for Bayern Munich’s Matthijs de Ligt but then the Dutchman does seem to possess superhero powers that enables him to drag opponents to the ground by pulling their jerseys at Goodison Park without conceding a penalty.

Such has been the turmoil at Old Trafford, which looks like it would have been a toxic environment to hamper his career development, it would appear to have been a lucky escape for Branthwaite.

United fans probably weren’t too impressed with how he played in Everton’s 4-0 thrashing there in December but while that was a bad day in the office for the player and his team-mates alike, it also proved to be a false dawn for Ruben Amorim against Sean Dyche’s side with the Portuguese coach admitting that returning Blues boss Moyes is doing a better job than himself.

Despite the United interest already having been well-documented by this point, on his previous visit to Old Trafford last March, the stadium announcer even incorrectly read out the Blues’ number 32’s name as being “Gerrard Braithwaite.”

In contrast, everyone knows and appreciates Branthwaite at Everton and unlike when Moyes lost Wayne Rooney to Manchester United in 2004, he can be the generational talent to build an exciting new team around when the club make their big move to the Mersey waterfront.