Middlesbrough missed Everton transfer trick that could have helped seal promotion | OneFootball

Jarrad Branthwaite was linked with a loan move to Middlesbrough in the summer transfer window of 2022.

Middlesbrough must regret missing out on a loan deal for Everton and England star Jarrad Branthwaite in 2022.

Chris Wilder was navigating his first summer transfer window as Boro boss in the summer of 2022, having taken over from Neil Warnock in November 2021.

He'd guided Middlesbrough to a 7th-placed finish in the Championship the previous season, and optimism was rife on Teesside that the club had finally found the manager who could take them back to the Premier League.

Marcus Forss, Matt Clarke, Darragh Lenihan, Ryan Giles, Rodrigo Muniz, Zack Steffen and Alex Mowatt were just some of the new arrivals that summer, but there was one player linked with a move to the Riverside which didn't come off.

If it had done, it could well have made all the difference in the promotion race they were about to be involved in.

Middlesbrough were among a host of Championship clubs keen on taking Everton's Jarrad Branthwaite on loan in 2022

Middlesbrough were among a number of Championship sides hoping to take Everton youngster Jarrad Branthwaite on loan for the 2022/23 season.

The centre-back had been given a handful of first-team opportunities at Goodison Park, but it was decided that he'd be spending the 22/23 campaign out on loan, and the highly-rated defender had no shortage of clubs interested in taking him.

Middlesbrough were one of them, as Wilder looked to add a real statement signing to his defensive unit. However, Branthwaite would instead join Eredivisie side PSV, where he would enjoy a hugely impressive campaign.

Despite spending the first half of the 2022/23 season predominantly as a squad player, the Englishman wrestled his way into Ruud Van Nistelrooy's starting lineup after the mid-season break, and he would go on to miss just two of PSV's final 20 games.

PSV would finish as runners-up to Feyenoord in the Eredivisie that year, and almost immediately after returning to Everton, he was fast-tracked into the Toffees' starting XI.

Since then, Branthwaite has gone on to establish himself as one of the best young central defenders in the Premier League, as well as earning England recognition too.

Boro pressed on into the 2022/23 season without Branthwaite, not to the disappointment of too many supporters at the time though, as Wilder had made numerous additions to his defence, with Lenihan and Dael Fry forming a solid centre-back partnership.

It was a season to remember on Teesside for many reasons, as despite Wilder's sacking in early October with the club in the relegation zone, he was soon replaced by Michael Carrick, who transformed Boro into one of the most potent attacking sides that many Riverside regulars had ever seen.

Middlesbrough fired home 84 goals in the Championship that season, with attacking midfield revelation Chuba Akpom being crowned the league's top scorer with 28 goals.

Boro finished fourth, but were beaten in a two-legged play-off semi-final by Coventry City. Scoring goals wasn't the problem for the Teessiders that term, it was keeping them out at the other end.

Middlesbrough conceded 56 times in the league, as they kept just 10 clean sheets (20th in the Championship) and registered an average of 1.2 goals conceded per game (13th in the Championship) - per FotMob.

Therefore, had Branthwaite made the move to Teesside in the summer of 2022, adding a defender of his quality could've made all the difference to Boro's season in terms of helping to make Carrick's side watertight at the back.