Everton prepared to sell four in transfer update as Manchester United want Jarrad Branthwaite
Everton would be open to selling four players ahead of doing a deal to let Jarrad Branthwaite leave, according to Paul Joyce.
Reporting via the paper’s website on 30 May the Times journalist wrote that the defender, who is widely reported to be wanted by Manchester United, is valued at £70million at Goodison.
But the Toffees would rather part with star midfielder Amadou Onana, as well as the trio of Michael Keane, Mason Holgate and Neal Maupay before they sell the centre-back.
Everton face pressure to make a sale prior to the 30 June cut off for the current accounting period to ease profit and sustainability concerns, while Dominic Calvert-Lewin has been offered a new contract and is expected to attract interest but according to Joyce has little incentive to rush into signing an extension thanks to ownership uncertainty.
Amadou Onana and forgotten Everton trio to leave?
If Everton can bring in anything for any of Keane, Holgate or Maupay it would be a major bonus when the latter two are so clearly surplus to requirements at the club and the former is a reserve option at best, assuming Branthwaite could be kept.
Sacrificing Onana understandably looks more palatable than being forced to cash in on the young England defender at this stage, but Sky Sports indicated on 29 May that there is currently no option to sell the Belgian midfielder before the end of June.
Even with the best will in the world Everton can only do deals where offers actually materialise, and while they clearly would rather keep Branthwaite in Sean Dyche’s squad for at least another season he is also the player who seems to be, unsurprisingly, drawing the most interest.
Two points deductions last season have made quite clear what sort of tribulations come from PSR breaches, and a future commission is bound to look dimly on a third if the club can’t balance the books in a month’s time.
Maupay bounced back slightly on loan at Brentford last term after a nightmare debut season on Merseyside but surely not enough to tempt any club to come close to offering the £15m Everton paid Brighton two years ago [BBC Sport], while Holgate’s difficult campaign at both Southampton and Sheffield United won’t likely have drummed up much of a market for him, just as Keane with a year left on his deal wouldn’t fetch much.
So while getting them off the wage bill might be a viable objective the Toffees may be banking on a long-mooted Onana bid arriving if they are to avoid losing star man Branthwaite.
In other Everton news, a Championship manager has admitted he has designs on the job at Goodison Park.
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