Man Utd must pay record-equalling transfer fee for Jarrad Branthwaite – with Red Devils set familiar asking price by Everton for England defender

The 21-year-old defender, who has been included in the latest England squad, is said to have been identified as a top target by those at Old Trafford. A summer approach may be in the pipeline, with the Toffees needing to part with prized assets in order to help balance the books on Merseyside.

Branthwaite would be a shrewd long-term addition for United, but he will not come cheap. His stock has soared this season after making a Premier League breakthrough on the back of a productive loan spell at Eredivisie giants PSV in 2022-23.

According to TEAMtalk, Branthwaite’s price tag now stands at £80 million ($102m). If a deal were to be done at that figure, then the highly-rated centre-half would join current United star Harry Maguire as the most expensive defender in world football.

Everton are said to be using the sale of Wesley Fofana to Chelsea as a marker in any Branthwaite negotiations, with the Frenchman having left Leicester for £75m ($96m) in 2022. It remains to be seen whether United are prepared to dig that deep for another piece of defensive steel.