How Everton can repeat their John Stones transfer masterclass with £100m ‘monster’

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Everton have so often been strong-armed into offloading their top assets when the big boys inevitably come calling.

As a club regularly plagued by a lack of financial backing, their subsequent absence of ambition and desperation for funds provided the perfect environment for someone like Manchester City, Chelsea, or more often than not, Manchester United, to come along and pick who they liked.

They were powerless, but Farhad Moshiri had planned to change that.

The Iranian billionaire joined the Toffees and promised them big things, suggesting that the club was no longer set to be a museum. Ironically enough, he has been the one to push them to within an inch of extinction.

The likes of Romelu Lukaku, Richarlison, Lucas Digne, Idrissa Gana Gueye and John Stones were all offloaded under his watch, with each one seemingly stinging more than the last.

However, with the latter, at the time it was largely seen as good business.

Why did Everton sell John Stones?

‘Money can’t buy you Stones’ was the chant from the Everton fans in late August, as they sought to see off relentless advances from Chelsea for their star centre-back.

Having rejected four bids already, it felt good for a pleasant change, to see the likes of Bill Kenwright stand up against immense financial power. The fans appreciated that, and made that feeling known in their away trip to Tottenham Hotspur.

But just a year later, he would have traded the royal blue of Everton for the sky blue of Manchester City, in a deal worth £47.5m.

Although it went against all the singing from 12 months prior, it showcased how digging their heels in and rejecting advances, the likes of which had only reached £38m, ended up bringing in a far greater sum.

In the end, they came so close to reaching the £50m price tag they had set by merely showing strength in their bargaining position.

So, with Jarrad Branthwaite and his reported £100m valuation, they must do the same.

Is Jarrad Branthwaite better than John Stones was at Everton?

After all, it could be argued that the 21-year-old is a far better prospect than Stones was during his infant spell at Everton, whilst also boasting the perfect physical assets to thrive at the top end of the Premier League for the next decade.

The current treble-winner, whilst immensely talented, was supremely prone to errors during his spell on Merseyside.

This culminated in him being the outfield player to have committed the most errors leading to goals during the 2015/16 term.

Meanwhile, Branthwaite has been a pillar of Sean Dyche‘s newfound solidity, with his 4.7 clearances and 6.4 ball recoveries per game merely scratching the surface of his importance, with Football Talent SCout Jacek Kulig suggesting this season has seen him become an ‘absolute monster‘.

Also, crucially, he has yet to make a single error leading to a goal too, via Sofascore.

With Chelsea now interested in the 21-year-old too, perhaps this could mark a repeat where the West London outfit help to drive the price up to Everton’s official valuation.