United have offered £35million plus £8m in add-ons for Branthwaite, who was included in Gareth Southgate’s provisional England squad for Euro 2024, but did not make the final cut.
Everton have rejected that initial bid and have told United they want in the region of £70m for 21-year-old centre-back Branthwaite, who only has one full Premier League season to his name.
United have stood firm on their original offer for Brathwaite and have told Everton to adopt a more “realistic” stance with regard to the player’s true market value if they want to do a deal.
The constraints imposed by the Premier League’s profit and sustainability rules (PSR) mean clubs like United can no longer fork out huge sums for defenders like they did in the past.
Back in 2019, United paid Leicester £80m for Harry Maguire, but there has been an enforced tightening of spending and budgets in the wake of PSR and financial fair play regulations. Against that backdrop, United have an initial transfer budget of around £50m this summer, which can only be supplemented by player sales to raise funds for new signings.
That is why United are willing to listen to offers for most of their squad, with the exception of Andre Onana, Diogo Dalot, Lisandro Martinez, Kobbie Mainoo, Alejandro Garnacho, Amad Diallo and Rasmus Hojlund, all of whom have been ring-fenced by the club. The rest of United’s squad are available to buy if clubs match United’s valuation of players, enabling them to reinvest that money on upgrades to Erik ten Hag’s under-performing squad, which achieved a Premier League lowest-ever finish of eighth last season.
Players set to leave United this summer include Casemiro, Victor Lindelof, Christian Eriksen, Donny van de Beek, Antony, Jadon Sancho and Mason Greenwood, with the club hoping to generate more than £150m – in addition to the £50m already available – to plough back into the squad.
England striker Marcus Rashford, who missed out on the Euro 2025 squad, will also be sold if any club matches United’s valuation of the 26-year-old, who managed just eight goals last season.
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