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United’s pursuit of Everton’s Jarrad Branthwaite is no secret to anyone, with the Red Devils already submitting an initial offer of £35 million the English centre-back.
The Red Devils are looking to the key Everton man to fix their problems in defence, with Raphael Varane having left the club at the end of his contract.
Branthwaite has been seen as a key target for United for sometime now, with the Premier League club being impressed by his performances at Goodison Park with youth very much still on his side.
However, reports from i news suggest that on the back of United’s failed initial bid, there may be more difficulties in signing Branthwaite than the Red Devils first thought.
With this being Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s first transfer window since taking over United, buying 27.7% of the Premier League club earlier this year, the INEOS owner is still getting used to the dynamics of the transfer market.
Report say that Jim Radcliffe is refusing to go above the £35 million mark, whilst Everton are deeming the 21-year-old as ‘non-transferable’ for anything less than £80 million.
Everton believe that with the potential he has at only 21-years-old, and his recent call up to the England squad, the centre-back is comparable to Harry Maguire who United famously bought for £80 million, so are quite content with keeping such a high price tag on the young star.
United’s hands are somewhat tied as well in this transfer window, with risks of profit and sustainability rules being breached if some main assets aren’t sold before buying new big names.
With Casemiro lined with a big money move to Saudi Arabia, and Mason Greenwood and Jadon Sancho both linked to the Bundesliga and Serie A, enough funds could be generated in order to pull of the Branthwaite move, plus grabbing some other targets.
However Everton’s recent sales of the youth academy prospects Lewis Dobbin and Tim Iroegbunam have been deemed as pure profits, supporting the Toffees away from the difficulties they were faced with the profit and sustainability rules at the end of the month.
This could mark bad news for United, as the pressures that were once there for Everton to sell a top player are no longer quite so imposing, meaning the club can actually hold off a little bit longer for the full price they want on Jarrad Branthwaite.
Whilst it’s been reported that Branthwaite has agreed personal terms at Old Trafford agreeing to a wage of approximately £150,000 per week, ultimately this means nothing if a deal can’t be made between the two clubs.
