Manchester United respond to Everton after Jarrad Branthwaite transfer bid snubbed
Manchester United have told Everton to be “realistic” about the valuation of Jarrad Branthwaite and stood firm on their original offer, according to The Mirror.
The paper report on their website on 19 June that the Old Trafford side believe profit and sustainability constraints mean clubs can no longer spend fees like the world-record £80million it cost to bring Harry Maguire from Leicester five years ago.
United are “confident they can wrap up a deal quickly” if the Toffees reduce their asking price of £70m, having rejected the opening bid of £35m with £8m in add-ons.
And Everton have reportedly been told that if they want to do a deal they should be realistic about the 21-year-old’s “true market value”.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe won’t pay full price for Everton star
It would appear that the key disconnect in this situation is that the Toffees don’t in fact want to do a deal, and their insistence on only accepting a top offer seems specifically designed to communicate that.
Obviously any club would like to sign their transfer targets for reduced fees, and it would appear that for Manchester United currently that would be the only option, unless there is going to be a sudden panic at Goodison Park ahead of the 30 June accounting period cut off.
PSR concerns have changed the landscape of the market somewhat but the asking price for Branthwaite doesn’t seem outrageous even if Everton were happy to sell.
He has now put together back-to-back impressive seasons as a first-team regular in the Eredivisie with PSV and the Premier League with the Toffees, playing his way into the England set up along the way.
His age, and physical attributes such as his height, being left-footed, and his comfort on the ball make interest in him little surprise.
And if United want him so badly they will surely realised privately why Everton don’t want to lose him, and on current evidence there looks to be little interest in a compromise on price, especially when an Amadou Onana sale seems to be gaining momentum at the same time [The Times, 14 June].
In other Everton news, an update on how long Premier League takeover checks will take has emerged with Dan Friedkin expected to be approved with ease.
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