Manchester United are still in the hunt for Everton star Jarrad Branthwaite despite having two bids rejected for his services – and Fabrizio Romano has exclusively told GIVEMESPORT that the defender won’t be signing for the Red Devils as things stand, with talks for his services coming to a ‘standby’ after Everton made their stance known.
Branthwaite was one of Everton’s most influential players in his breakthrough season at Goodison Park, scoring three goals for the Toffees from defence whilst also being incredibly resilient at the back alongside Jordan Pickford and James Tarkowski as the Toffees cruised to a 15th-placed finish despite having an eight-point deduction for breaching FFP regulations. That has seen United register their interest in his services but a deal could be tough to do, with Romano revealing that Everton have ‘no intention’ to negotiate with United for the youngster.
The situation has been further complicated with Amadou Onana’s imminent move to Aston Villa, which further strenghtens the Merseyside outfit’s financial situation.
News filtered through in June that United had made a bid of around £35million for the defender, which was rejected out of hand by Everton – and after weeks of failing to make a bid, the Red Devils burst out of nowhere to make a bid totalling £50million for the 22-year-old.
This too was rejected by Everton, but United are getting closer to the £70million touted as the fee that would land Branthwaite after an impressive season under Sean Dyche, and with their recruitment plans starting to take shape alongside the pursuits of Dutch duo Matthijs de Ligt and Joshua Zirkzee, developments will be interesting to see over the coming weeks.
