Man United are desperate about signing a new central defender in the summer and as per reports, the Red Devils have made Jarrad Branthwaite one of their priority targets.
Manchester United will get rid of Evans, Victor Lindelof, Raphael Varane and possibly Harry Maguire at the end of this season and the new INEOS owners want Branthwaite as part of the new-look team.
Branthwaite’s stocks have risen massively this season as the 21-year-old has been one of Everton’s top performers. Last season, he was out on loan to PSV Eindhoven where he played 36 games and this time around, the youngster has already started every Premier League game for the Toffees.
Everton manager Sean Dyche has made it clear that he is not ready to sell his most important players but the experts believe the club has to bring in funds and that can only be done by selling big names like Jarrad Branthwaite and Onana.
“We don’t want to sell any good players,” Dyche told reporters after Saturday’s loss to Man United. “It’s as simple as that and he’s proven to be a very good player. We’re not in the business of trying to sell players.
“You only sell players if you have to sell players or there’s a problem. There’s no problem, therefore I’m just hoping we don’t need to sell players. At the minute, we certainly don’t so we will see.”
Everton value Jarrad Branthwaite at around £75 million, if they have to sell him in the summer but Manchester United hope to secure him for a fee of around £50 million.
The defender’s current market value is just £22 million but his contract expires in 2027 so there’s no way Everton will let him leave for £50 million.
He’s played every single minute of EPL football for Everton this season and he has a rating of 7.15 out of 10. He’s won close to 70% of his duels and along with 144 recoveries, the 21-year-old has also made 41 interceptions.
Everton are trying hard to avoid relegation but if they have to go down there’s no way they can afford to hold onto Jarrad Branthwaite.
The way he’s played so far, £75-80 million is a very fair valuation for the centre-back and if Man United can offload all four of their unwanted central defenders then they might not have to spend a dime from their pockets.
In the past, United have spent unnecessary money on useless players so it will make perfect sense if they have to spend £75-odd million on a young talent like Jarrad Branthwaite.
