I was thinking of returning to Everton – but Premier League legend rang me every day and made me a promise 

Jarrad Branthwaite talks to his former Everton team-mate Anthony Gordon during an England training session at St George's Parkin Burton upon Trent

It was Everton’s then director of football Marcel Brands who spotted him. And having returned to his native Netherlands after his time at Goodison ended, Brands then took his protégé to PSV Eindhoven on loan in a temporary switch that proved the springboard for him to come back to Merseyside ‘Premier League ready’ thanks to the tuition of one of the competition’s most-prolific marksmen. Branthwaite said: “It was massive – I think that’s where it all started. I went abroad and had new life experiences.

“I think it’s made me become more of a man and it enabled me to come back to the Premier League and play regularly after being abroad. Ruud van Nistelrooy (PSV’s head coach last season) was really good for me. I went over there and didn’t play as many games as I would have liked. “It got to January and I was thinking of maybe going back to Everton and getting another loan or staying there for the second half of the season. But he was ringing me every day and promising I would get my chance. “That’s what happened in the second half of the season. I played every game. I got the progression from the second half of that season and took it into this one.”

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