Man Utd prepare £80m move for Jarrad Branthwaite

According Sun, manchester united They try to steal the march from Everton Defender Jarrad Branthwaite with help from Jason Wilcox.

The Red Devils are currently in talks with Southampton to appoint Wilcox as their transfer guru and hope to negotiate a compensation agreement in the coming days.

Branthwaite is one of their top transfer targets and Sun They claim Wilcox could put United in pole position due to his close relationship with the defender's agent, David Reeves.

United want to make Branthwaite one of their marquee signings in Sir Jim Ratcliffe's rebuild, but it won't be cheap. A fee of more than £80 million will be required to sign him.

Great talent

Branthwaite has made huge progress since becoming a mainstay for the Toffees this campaign. He did well on loan at PSV Eindhoven last season and has maintained his form at the first divisionwhere he has been one of the most consistent central defenders in terms of defensive contributions.

The 21-year-old has won an impressive 68% of his duels this season with 5.3 recoveries and 4.1 clearances per appearance. He has also made around 2 tackles per outing for the Merseyside team. His passing accuracy is only 79%, but he should improve in a bigger club with more quality players around him.

With his enormous talent and potential, Everton will demand a higher transfer fee. A price tag of £80m doesn't seem out of place for one of the country's best centre-backs. United are likely to face competition from Premier League rivals but hope to use Wilcox to agree a verbal agreement with the youngster.

Branthwaite is a left-footed player, but has the ability to play from the right and left central defensive positions. Therefore, he could be a regular starter alongside Lisandro Martínez at United next season rather than being considered a substitute or direct competitor to the World Cup winner.