Reports from The Daily Mail says that there is a possibility of the Everton centre-back joining United in January and potentially becoming Ruben Amorim's first signing at the club.

The article says that "United have held talks in recent weeks about the feasibility of making a January move for Jarrad Branthwaite."

Despite recent reports that Amorim will have to operate on a 'modest budget', there are a lot of admirers of Branthwaite on MUFC's board. "Jarrad Branthwaite has plenty of admirers on #mufc's football board. There is a degree of urgency around his situation given the level of interest from rival teams."

As the new manager would most likely play a 3-4-3 formation, the club "continue to see Branthwaite as a high-potential player." As the Englishman is only 22-years-old, there is a lot of time left in his career with United looking at his age as a reason to bring him in to be part of the future.

"Branthwaite can be a key future piece of the puzzle alongside Leny Yoro in Ruben Amorim's back three."

Considering that United (and many other clubs) were desperate for the defender's signature last summer, "Branthwaite has since refused to sign a new contract at Everton."

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Final Thoughts

This looks very interesting. Given our desire to sign him last summer and the fact that we have a manager who plays with three centre-backs, I wouldn't be surprised if we do sign him.

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One of the reasons we didn't do the deal was because Everton were asking for a ridiculous price of around £80m. United decided to move away and ended up paying £52m for Leny Yoro instead. While that fee for the Frenchman was high, the potential he had was through the roof especially when so many top clubs including Real Madrid wanted him.

Branthwaite too has his suitors as rivals Liverpool and Chelsea would like to sign the 22-year-old as well meaning that United will have to move quickly to bring him to Old Trafford.

This explains the January interest and why United want to sign him asap. The fact that he is refusing to sign a new deal at Everton means he won't be as pricey as he was a year ago. His current deal takes him to June 2027.

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We have quite a few centre-backs such as Lisandro Martinez, Harry Maguire, Jonny Evans and the newly signed Matthijs De Ligt and Leny Yoro, who hasn't played yet due to injury.

This along with the plans for Branthwaite to be part of the future makes me think that it is likely the end of the road for Evans and Maguire, the latter of which also has been picking up a lot of injuries in recent years. The two of them are also in their 30s meaning that time is running out for them.

De Ligt was just signed and United spent a lot of money on Yoro, who like I said, was highly sort-after by the biggest teams across Europe. The pair aren't going anywhere any time soon.

Martinez always plays as the left-sided centre-back which is also the position of Branthwaite. One would think that it would be a natural shootout between the pair for that role but I think we will rotate the positions of all four of these centre-backs.

While they may have their specific positions, I don't see any reason as to why they can't move all about the back line.

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Bringing in Branthwaite will give us an extra option that will allow Amorim to rotate amongst his centre-backs. Martinez is injured at the moment and we don't know whether he will be ready for Sunday. Branthwaite would've slotted in perfectly as that Martinez replacement.

Amorim will now have to use Evans along with De Ligt and Yoro who will make his debut should the Portuguese stick with his back three.

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This deal makes a lot of sense when looking at where we're moving to as a club. Branthwaite is young and ticks all the boxes required of modern-day centre-backs. The only issue is injury as he has had three separate groin problems keeping him out for a total of 21 games and 135 days for club and country. Injuries like that can be a problem for the future as the player can become injury prone.

However, much like Yoro, I think it is a good risk to take given his qualities.

At 22, this means our back line of Martinez, Yoro, De Ligt and Branthwaite (assuming that Evans and Maguire leaves) will have an average age of 23. That is a pretty good age range when it comes to players.

The future would like bright.

I'd be happy if we brought him to the club. Would you?

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Background Image: Jarrad Branthwaite | Creator: Lewis Storey | Credit: Getty Images Copyright: 2024 Getty Images via Goal