Tottenham’s Defensive Crisis: Spurs Eye Everton’s Jarrad Branthwaite Amid January Transfer Scramble

Ange Postecoglou, who was in his second consecutive season with Tottenham Hotspur, has set his sights on improving on the team’s season performance that saw them qualify for the Europa League last season.

However, as the year 2025 commences, the club drags at a poor position 11 points away from the Champions League spots and requires talent like never before.

Last summer, Tottenham broke the transfer record to secure Dominic Solanke on a move from Bournemouth, and Musenga also ventured into young prospects such as Archie Gray, Lucas Bergvall, and Wilson Odobert.

However, physical fitness and hard work have, at one time or another, brought untimely misfortunes, such as having a weak defensive line due to a lack of squad depth.

Tottenham has benefitted from the return of some of these players, including Micky Van de Ven, Cristian Romero, and Ben Davies; however, Radu Dragusin has had his fair share of fitness issues.

This meant that Postecoglou had to start young midfielder Archie Gray in the centre-back position, which shows how many defenders were out of the lineup.

To counter this, sources suggest that Spurs are particularly active in the search for a central defender in the January window.

Will Everton Release Jarrad Branthwaite?

The Daily Mail, quoting TEAMtalk, stated that Tottenham has an internal meeting to sign Everton’s young player Jarrad Branthwaite.

The 22-year-old, who started the previous season as a revelation for Everton, has struggled during the first part of the 2024/25 season because of a groin injury that made him miss nine games.

Jarrad Branthwaite has not delivered much this season, but he was highly valued and courted by Manchester United last summer before they pursued other players.

Tottenham regards Jarrad Branthwaite as an option for Ben Davies and his contract that will end in June. Being a player that can switch between a centre-back and a left-back is a bonus. But a January shift does not seem probable.

Everton allegedly set a £80 million asking price for Branthwaite last summer, and given that the Toffees are struggling in another fight for relegation by mid-season sale of one of their best players seems highly unlikely.

Tottenham might have to look for other targets as the January budget is small while Postecoglou struggles to bring Tottenham back on track and save his position.