Manchester United could revive Jarrad Branthwaite interest after Everton takeover collapse

Manchester United’s hopes of signing Jarrad Branthwaite could be resurrected following the collapse of Everton’s proposed takeover by the Friedkin Group while Matthijs de Ligt remains another centre-half option.

United appeared ready to accept defeat in their efforts to land Branthwaite after Aston Villa’s impending £50 million deal for the Everton midfielder Amadou Onana reduced the financial pressures on the Merseyside club.

But news that the American billionaire Dan Friedkin has pulled the plug on his company’s prospective buy-out of Everton amid concerns about the level of debt at the club has created more financial uncertainty at Goodison Park.

United completed the £58.8million signing of France Under-21 defender Leny Yoro from Lille on Thursday but are still in the market for another centre-back and may yet be encouraged to make another bid for Branthwaite in the wake of the latest unexpected developments.

The Old Trafford club have already had two bids worth £43million and £50million including add-ons rejected by Everton and it now remains to be seen if they opt to make a third and final offer.

It is thought United would be unlikely to go higher than a total package worth around £55 million – not dissimilar to the Yoro fee – and have no intention of meeting Everton’s existing £75 million valuation of Branthwaite, which they consider excessive.

Old Trafford officials were keeping tight-lipped on Friday night and United also have other options in the position, namely De Ligt at Bayern Munich, even though he is not left-footed like Branthwaite.

United also have a clear price in their minds for De Ligt and will not pursue a deal for the 24-year-old Netherlands defender if Bayern’s demands fall outside that.

Equally, any more arrivals in the defensive position especially are likely to depend on player departures, with United needing to raise money to reinvest and to clear space on the wage bill and in the squad.

Victor Lindelof is attracting interest from Turkey but there have yet to be any concrete bids for the Sweden centre-back and a degree of uncertainty still hangs around the future of Harry Maguire.

Right-back Aaron Wan-Bissaka, who like Lindelof is out of contract at the end of next season, is attracting interest from West Ham United as well as Fenerbahce and Galatasaray in Turkey.

Young defenders Willy Kambwala, 19, and 21-year-old Alvaro Fernandez have already been sold to Villarreal and Benfica respectively and Raphael Varane and Brandon Williams released.

In addition to Yoro, United have signed the Netherlands striker Joshua Zirkzee from Bologna for £36.5 million and would like to recruit a No 6 midfielder.

They are in talks with Paris Saint-Germain for the Uruguay midfielder Manuel Ugarte, who shares the same agent as Yoro – Jorge Mendes. As with the centre-half position where United held concurrent talks over Yoro, Branthwaite and De Ligt, the club are thought to have several plates spinning at once in terms of midfielders.

Talks over Ugarte appear the most advanced at this stage but there is some interest in the Real Sociedad defensive midfielder Martin Zubimendi, who has just won the Euros with Spain, among others. Adrien Rabiot, the France midfielder who is a free agent after leaving Juventus at the end of last season, has also been linked.

It is not unfeasible that Sofyan Amrabat, who spent last season on loan at Old Trafford, could return depending on how the midfield landscape unfolds. United will sell Casemiro if the right offer comes in for the veteran Brazil midfielder.

United midfielder Scott McTominay is attracting interest from a number of clubs, not least Fulham who have already had one bid rejected. McTominay, who is valued at £25million to £30million, has also been linked with Everton, Newcastle, Spurs and Galatasaray.

Meanwhile, United manager Erik ten Hag has revealed how last season was the “toughest of his career” and lifted the lid on the breakdown in communication with the club’s hierarchy before he ended up agreeing a contract extension following “good, honest, challenging” talks in Ibiza.

Asked if he knew what would happen after winning the FA Cup final then going away on holiday while United decided his fate, Ten Hag said in an interview with AD Sportwereld: “No, except that I still had a year left on my contract. But when communication decreases at some point, you naturally feel that. It was clear: there was less communication during that period.

“Whereas before, it was always there, and good too. I had to initiate communication more often. Even after the final.

“The communication did fall away, yes. But I was just celebrating holidays with my loved ones, and I let things happen. I have no influence on that.

“Of course that is a strange state of affairs. But it’s not like I panicked. It’s a decision that was out of my hands. I just waited it out. At that moment you just think in two scenarios: either we continue or not. It’s that simple and I’m level-headed enough to look at it that way.

“They didn’t say ‘we still want to continue’ but ‘we want to continue’. The argument they gave was in short: we have looked at everything and compared everything, but we think we already have the best manager in house.

“Then I said, ‘then we have to discuss a number of things about how we will interact with each other and work together’. We had a good, honest, but also challenging conversation about this. As it should be at the top.”