Jarrad Branthwaite to Man United transfer: £35m bid, personal terms ‘agreed’, Everton stance

Manchester United have long been rumoured to hold interest in Everton defender Jarrad Branthwaite following his impressive defensive displays under Sean Dyche over the 2023/24 campaign.

Having played 90 minutes in all but one of his 35 Premier League appearances this season, the 21-year-old was also included in Gareth Southgate's provisional 33-man England squad ahead of the European Championships but was cut from the group as one of the seven players to not make it into the final 26.

Following the departure of Raphael Varane at the end of the season, and the likely upcoming exit of Jonny Evans at the end of his contract, Erik ten Hag's priority this season must be to bolster up his defensive ranks after their calamitous displays throughout the past few months.

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Harry Maguire, Lisandro Martinez, Victor Lindelof and Willy Kambwala would be the remaining quartet of centre-backs and it's clear now the Dutchman seeks to add Branthwaite to that list. With Everton also in financial trouble, it'd be no surprise to see them cash in on the star this summer in order to both balance out their books in terms of the Premier League's PSRs (Profit and Sustainability Regulations) as well as drum up some funds amid an ownership crisis that saw their prospective deal with 777 Partners fall through rapidly.

The Toffees are said to hold Branthwaite in the same class as the likes of Maguire, who United splashed £80m on to bring him over from Leicester City back in 2019, and are likely to want to command a similar fee from the Red Devils after their primary new investor Sir Jim Ratcliffe confirmed Ten Hag would stay as manager this week.

So with all that said, we've taken a look at the latest on the future of the Branthwaite-United saga this summer.

£35m bid confirmed

Manchester United have formally submitted a £35m bid for Branthwaite, with Everton set to swiftly reject the offer. It's long been believed the Toffees will command a fee of at least £70m for the star after his performances under Sean Dyche led him to Gareth Southgate's 33-man provisional England squad for the Euros.

Everton stance

Sean Dyche has already claimed he doesn't want to let the youngster go this summer, with the star having been such a pivotal part of his side's victorious fight against relegation this season.

Speaking in March, he said: “We don’t want to sell any good players. 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.

"What I saw of him, I liked. When the timing was right, I thought ‘go on then, go and enjoy it, go and have a go’. I didn’t have to say anything to him, just go and play. He’s adapted well.

"There are things he still needs to work on, but you unravel a player slowly, you can’t just fast-track everything into them and say ‘that’s it’. So while he’s developing nicely and while he’s learning, sometimes the hardest thing is not to coach at all when you just step away and go ‘no, no, you’re fine, you keep doing what you’re doing’."

Personal terms 'agreed'

Reports seem to suggest that following discussions between the two camps, they have come to an agreement on personal terms but that there is still a large gap in between United's valuation of the player and Everton's which could hold the deal from going through in the next few days at least.

With United's bid of £35m being around half of what Everton would ideally want for the star, it seems as though there's a lot more to be done at the negotiating table between the two clubs before Branthwaite truly has his say on the ordeal.

Branthwaite comments

Earlier in the season, when asked about the rumours of a potential move to Man United, Branthwaite simply shrugged off the comments and reiterated his focus to keeping Everton in the Premier League for next season.

Speaking in April, he said: "You have just got to block it all out. I think if you focus on the outside stuff, you get distracted from what you need to do on the pitch."