Ashworth arrival to speed up Man Utd transfers amid Everton bid update - report

Manchester United are not expected to make another bid for Everton star Jarrad Branthwaite as things stand, according to i News.

The online paper reported via their website on 1 July that Bayern Munich’s Matthijs de Ligt had now become a “top target” at Old Trafford, although an offer has not yet been made.

With Dan Ashworth’s arrival from Newcastle now sorted it is expected to speed up any transfer business, but that is now not likely to involve Branthwaite.

If the Toffees were willing to reduce their asking price, widely reported to be £70million or more, then United could reportedly be “encouraged” again.

The Manchester side have previously indicated as much but at no point have Everton shown any interest in doing so.

Everton hold firm in face of Old Trafford interest

Having now passed the 30 June cut off for the previous year’s profit and sustainability calculations without having to sacrifice Branthwaite there isn’t likely to be any more interest in letting go now.

It won’t become clear for a few months yet but the sales of Lewis Dobbin to Aston Villa and Ben Godfrey to Atalanta may have been enough to address PSR concerns, since the strong stance taken at Goodison Park in the face of a low bid for their star centre-back didn’t suggest major fears.

At the same time the Toffees reportedly offered top striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin to Newcastle before that move fell through [The Times, 24 June] so it doesn’t appear that they were sitting back without a care in the world, even if that may have been more to do with his contract having just a year left to run.

Any activity around Branthwaite, 21, over the rest of the summer seems more likely to be determined by a changing priorities at Manchester United, or any of the other clubs reported to be interested in recent months, causing an increased bid to eventually come in.

That doesn’t seem possible at Old Trafford barring significant sales, and if they complete a deal for De Ligt it would potentially rule that move out entirely.

Sean Dyche will be all the more loath to lose the England international now that Godfrey has gone, and would surely hope for some defensive reinforcements, while the plan to sell Amadou Onana [Alan Myers, 14 June] is more likely to generate some income towards new signings.

In other Everton news, Dan Friedkin taking over at Goodison Park will hand the club an “enormous opportunity” for major new influence.

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