Championship side Blackburn Rovers head into today’s home game against Stoke City just five points shy of the play-off places, and there’s every possibility that they’ll have Carlisle youth graduate Jarrad Branthwaite in their match day squad following his loan move to Ewood Park from Everton this week.
Branthwaite, still only 18, made the move to the Premier League giants in January 2020 transfer window having made 14 appearances and a little bit of history for his hometown club when he became the youngest ever goal scorer when he netted in the Leasing.com Trophy group game against Morecambe in November 2019.
Already highly thought of by the Toffees, he’s played five games under Carlo Ancelotti, with three of those appearances coming in the starting line-up.
Speaking today, youth boss Eric Kinder said: “I sent him a text on behalf of everybody at the club to wish him good luck.
“It’s amazing when you think what’s happened for him over the past year and bit. He broke into our first team, got his goal and showed that he could more than cope with it, and he’s gone on to play really well in the Premier League at a massive club.
“Now he’s just joined another one of the biggest clubs in football and he could well be playing for them this afternoon.
“It’ll be interesting to see how he gets on because he’s confident and we’ve all seen that he’s become a very composed footballer.
“With where he is in terms of his parent club, I honestly think that it’s loan moves like these that define your career.
"If he goes into Blackburn and handles Championship football, and then comes out of it with good reviews, it’ll mean that he’s going to play at a very high level for a long time.
“This is important for him, but I have no doubt that he’ll be more than fine with it.”