Carlisle United boss Chris Beech has praised reported Rangers target Jarrad Branthwaite, as quoted by the Scottish Sun.
Rangers were first linked with the 17-year-old in a Sun on Sunday report on 1 December (page; 63), while BBC Cumbria Sport claimed a Gers scout watched him in action away at Morecambe on Saturday afternoon.
Across those two reports, Celtic, Arsenal, Everton, Newcastle United and Southampton have all also been credited with an interest.
“The speculation is a challenge for him,” said Beech, as quoted by the Scottish Sun. “I don’t think it’s my job to talk about how hard it will be to keep him – I think it’s the clubs.”
“They’ve got to do what’s best for everybody and everything. We’ll have to wait and see what happens. It’s very difficult for him to deal with that as a player.
“Jarrad, I’ve seen him now for about 10 days, and I’ve coached a lot of very good young players, but he is excellent. I had Dale Stephens at 17, he plays Premier League football for Brighton now. And Jarrad is definitely better than Dale at the same age.”
Verdict
Beech has only been in charge at Brunton Park since late November, but it’s clear that Branthwaite has already made quite an impression upon him.
It’s unusual for a 17-year-old to be playing regular senior football, never mind at centre-back, but he played the full 90 minutes in a 1-1 draw with Morecambe at the weekend. He’s now made eleven appearances in all competitions this season.
Clearly, there’s plenty of interest in the young talent and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him snapped up in January. But will he be headed to Ibrox?
Meanwhile, a Rangers-linked marksman continued his strong form over the weekend.
