Manchester United could be ready to take advantage of Everton’s financial fair play situation, according to reports.
Erik ten Hag’s Manchester United will take on Sean Dyche’s Everton at Goodison Park this weekend in what will be a big test of character for the Red Devils.
Following news of Everton’s point deduction, Goodison Park will be rocking and right behind the team next Sunday and United will need to be careful that they don’t allow their heads to drop in the encounter.
Well, it seems that this encounter will give the Red Devils a chance to take a closer look at two of their main targets with Everton’s point deduction set to help United.
United’s double swoop
According to a report from The Express, the Red Devils could be ready for a double Toffees swoop next summer with Jarrad Branthwaite and Amadou Onana on their list of targets.
According to the Daily Mail, Leicester, Burnley and Leeds United could be ready to sue the Merseyside club which could set Everton back a hefty sum of money, somewhere in the region of £300 million.
This is due to the perceived advantage that Everton got due to their breaking of the financial fair play laws, which led to the Toffees staying up and the sides around them going down.
This is where United come in with the Old Trafford chiefs reportedly confident they could take advantage of this situation and sign their top two targets for relatively reasonable prices.
Onana and Branthwaite
A lot has been said about Onana, including the Belgian’s admission that there were clubs after him last summer but he decided to stay at Goodison Park.
However, not a lot has been said about the other United target, Branthwaite. The English defender is having his big breakout season this year with the comparisons obvious between the Everton man and another former Toffees defender, John Stones.
The defender joined Everton three years ago from Carlisle for a fee believed to be in the region of just £1 million. At 6 foot 5, the Englishman is a powerful presence at the back for Everton.
Speaking earlier this month to the Daily Mail, Dyche was full of praise for the 21-year-old defender: “He seemed to be quite an assured character, quite a calm character. I like that in all players, but particularly in centre halves.
“His adaptation has been clear to the pace and the detail of Premier League football. He continues to improve, and physically he is a good specimen.”
A move to Manchester could be on the cards soon.
Receive a digest of our best United content each week direct to your mailbox
