Manchester United retain an interest in Jarrad Branthwaite as Everton ‘roll up their sleeves’ in their bid to keep him this summer amid interest from four Premier League clubs.
The Red Devils have already signed Matheus Cunha from Wolves after triggering his £62.5m release clause and are thought to be closing in on Bryan Mbeumo having reportedly made a second bid worth £65m to land him from Brentford as the club focuses on improving Ruben Amorim’s attacking options.
But the Portuguese boss is also keen on adding centre-backs to his squad to give him options to rotate in his 3-4-3 formation and could make another move for Branthwaite having seen a bid of around £50m rejected by Everton for the 22-year-old.
The Toffees were said to be holding out for £70m with Manchester City also said to be circling in the summer of 2024, though Pep Guardiola’s side aren’t mentioned in a CaughtOffside report which claims Chelsea, Tottenham and Liverpool are now the clubs thought to be keeping tabs along with Manchester United.
It’s claimed the four Premier League clubs are ‘showing an interest’ in Branthwaite, who was hugely impressive alongside James Tarkowski in the second half of last season under David Moyes in particular.
Moyes is said to be desperate to keep the star defender at the club as they move into the Hill Dickinson Stadium.
The report states:
‘Sources familiar with the situation have informed CaughtOffside that Everton are in talks with Branthwaite over a new contract, with the 22-year-old not currently thought to be pushing to leave Goodison Park.
‘Everton are aware of interest from top clubs such as Chelsea, Man United, Liverpool and Tottenham, and one source told us they’re really “rolling up their sleeves” to keep Branthwaite.’
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Chelsea could perhaps be the greatest danger for Everton as Enzo Maresca has made it clear to Blues bosses of the need for a new centre-back, though Branthwaite wasn’t named on a previous shortlist of four options currently being considered.
‘Jorrel Hato, Ousmane Diomande, Murillo and Piero Hincapie are all in Chelsea’s sights’, the report confirms, ‘but Branthwaite could be another fine opportunity for Enzo Maresca’s side if he cannot agree a new deal with Everton’.
Man Utd are also scouring the transfer market for a new goalkeeper, and having approached both Barcelona and Aston Villa over moves for Marc-Andre ter Stegen and Emiliano Martinez respectively, a report from Portuguese outlet A Bola claims Amorim has ‘already asked’ for Porto’s Diogo Costa.
The 25-year-old – who has a €75m [£64m] release clause – is also on Manchester City’s radar amid doubts over the future of Ederson amid interest from Saudi Arabia, and Costa has now decided to ’embrace a new challenge’ by leaving Porto.
He believes he’s ‘already achieved everything’ he can with the Portuguese giants and is attracted by a move to the Premier League, which is said to be pushing Porto to reduce their demands to around €60m [£51m] in order to attract a buyer.
