FINALLY DONE: Jarrad Branthwaite to Man united finally completed after last bid was accepted today,player to arrive tomorrow for presentation
Manchester United have been handed hope in their pursuit of Jarrad Branthwaite with Everton closing in on signing Lyon centre-back Jake O’Brien.
United have already seen two offers rejected for the 22-year-old this summer, with the most recent coming in at around £50million. However, Everton appear to be holding out for £70m, which would represent the fourth most expensive transfer for a defender of all-time behind Harry Maguire, Josko Gvardiol and Virgil van Dijk.
After selling Amadou Onana to Aston Villa, Everton want to keep Branthwaite. They are keen to offer him a new contract following an impressive first full season playing for the Toffees, where he made 41 appearances and scored three goals. But despite signing Leny Yoro earlier this month, United are still purring.
And now, the Red Devils have been given somewhat of a boost that Everton might be preparing for life without Branthwaite after it was confirmed they have agreed a deal with Lyon for O’Brien, as per Fabrizio Romano. The Republic of Ireland defender has accepted an offer and is set to sign a five-year contract at Goodison Park.
Branthwaite is back in training with Everton but has not featured in any of their pre-season friendlies to date. After missing the trip to Sligo Rovers last week, Sean Dyche said: “Jarrad is making good progress as are Patto (Nathan Patterson) and Dele so we’ll see how those guys go. At this stage, it’s nothing too serious so we’re thankful for that.”
As for United, they are currently out in the United States preparing to take on Arsenal on Saturday night. The Red Devils have made a mixed start to pre-season, having lost 1-0 to Rosenborg in their opening friendly before securing a 2-0 victory over Rangers in Edinburgh last weekend.
Speaking after the game against Rangers, Ten Hag said: “Pre-season is friendlies and I want to win every game so I was very disappointed on (last) Monday, especially with the performance.
“That is even more important in pre-season – the performance. You want to grow and that is what we have seen today in comparison with Monday, which was a low standard.
“Today was much better, especially in the prospect of aggressiveness, which was much better. We were much more on the front foot and it was a team [effort] in both halves so, yeah, it was enjoyable to watch.”
