According to Give Me Sport, Manchester United are preparing a move to sign Everton defender Jarrad Branthwaite who’s also a target for Tottenham Hotspur.
The youngster has been one of the top defenders in the Premier League this season and Man United along with Tottenham have been keeping tabs on him for the previous couple of months. Branthwaite has three more years remaining on his contract but with Everton dwindling at the bottom half of the table, the defender is now willing to move out for a new challenge.
It looks like Manchester United are now trying to make early moves to avoid a clash with Tottenham Hotspur but as per the rumours, the Red Devils are willing to pay around €65 million for the 21-year-old while Everton want at least €94 million to let him leave.
However, Man United are hoping that Everton’s poor financial condition will force them to lower their demands in the coming months. If Everton are willing to accept a fee in the region of €60 million then Spurs will have a great chance of signing him but there’s no way Ange’s side will be able to pay €90-95 million for Jarrad Branthwaite.
Can Jarrad Branthwaite help stabilise Man United’s defence?
Jarrad Branthwaite has started 34 Premier League games for the Toffees this season and in 3027 minutes, the central defender has won close to 70% of his ground duels and the same percentage of aerial duels.
He’s superbly calm and composed at the age of just 21 and in the league, he’s conceded just 25 fouls while making as many as 50 interceptions. The English defender has also won 32 tackles and made 181 recovery runs. He’s made 2.7 clearances and won 2.3 tackles per game.
Erik ten Hag has been really unlucky with injuries and most of his injured players this season have been defenders. The likes of Varane, Maguire, Lindelof and Martinez have constantly picked up injuries and the situation has been so bad that the manager has been using Evans and Casemiro as his first-choice centre-back pairing in the previous couple of matches.
Varane has already announced his exit and Man United are already planning to offload Evans, Maguire and Lindelof which means the club will have to sign at least two world-class central defenders in the summer.
Jarrad Branthwaite is ready to play for Manchester United in case he leaves Everton and with so many defenders leaving, the youngster can easily come in and get consistent game time next season. The youngster has shown his maturity this campaign and he alongside Lisandro Martinez can help solve United’s defensive woes.
With as many as four defenders expected to leave Man United have to spend money to reinforce their back line and even if Everton are demanding around €90-95 million for the 21-year-old, United should go ahead and pay up. They also have other defensive targets but we think they should invest one someone who is young and is familiar with the Premier League. And Jarrad Branthwaite has both of these attributes.
