Man Utd could suffer transfer blow as Man City now want to sign £80m star keen on joining Red Devils – report

Manchester City have joined Manchester United in the race for the services of Everton centre-back Jarrad Branthwaite, according to the Sun.

The Red Devils have had the Toffees star on their radar for almost a year and have already submitted a bid for him.

However, it was swiftly knocked back as Everton want £80 million for Branthwaite, and Man City are now looking to pounce.

The 22-year-old is very keen on moving to Man United this summer despite their failure to qualify for the Champions League, but the emergence of the interest from Pep Guardiola could change his mind.

The Man City manager is impressed by Branthwaite’s ability to play out from the back and his defensive qualities, and the chance to win major silverware at the Etihad Stadium club could tempt him to ditch his dreams of joining Man United.

The Red Devils could return with an improved bid, but they may not be able to outbid their city rivals due to their need to balance the books.

Everton need to sell players to comply with Profit and Sustainability Rules but will not let them go on the cheap and are no longer under any pressure to sell fast having sold Ben Godfrey to Atalanta and Lewis Dobbin to Aston Villa.

Man United want both Branthwaite and Bayern Munich centre-back Matthijs de Ligt, with talks already opened with the representatives of the Netherlands international, and securing the services of the duo will help improve the fortunes of the club on the pitch.

The Everton star won 32 tackles, played 1371 passes and scored thrice in 35 games last term, emerging as one of the best defenders in the English top-flight with his consistency and reliability.

He has the potential to become a world-class defender, and Man City are aware of that, which could prove problematic to Man United’s chances of landing him.