Manchester United target Jarrad Branthwaite continued to build his glowing reputation with a fantastic performance in the Merseyside derby on Wednesday night.
The Everton centre-back has emerged as one of the top targets for United this summer and he showed his class yesterday with a stand-out showing against Liverpool.
The 21-year-old scored the opening goal from a set-piece in the 27th minute and also impressed defensively with eight clearances, five recoveries and 75 per cent duels won.
Branthwaite also won 100 per cent of his tackles with five passes into the final third. There are no surprises that he is attracting plenty of interest ahead of the summer.
United have been continuously mentioned as the leading candidates to sign him and the recent appointment of Jason Wilcox could be a potential boost for them.
Wilcox has a close working relationship with Branthwaite’s representative David Reeves and this could help United to verbally agree personal terms ahead of their rivals.
Branthwaite has the ability to play in both centre-back positions despite being left-footed. He would be an ideal signing for United this summer with his age and potential.
The big question remains whether they can afford the reported £80 million price tag.
The club were unable to afford any sort of signing last winter due to the risk of breaching the Profitability and Sustainability rules and the situation may not improve much this summer.
With United likely to miss out on Champions League football, their summer spending spree could partly depend on whether they can recoup reasonable funds from player sales.
Keeping this in mind, the Red Devils may have to play the waiting game which could be a risky prospect, particularly with arch-rivals Manchester City also in the race to sign Branthwaite.
Stats from Transfermarkt.com & Sofascore.com
