Man Utd now set 21-year-old who’s impossible to get the ball off as ‘primary target’

Add as preferred source on Google

Manchester United weren’t active in the January window, but this summer could see fireworks as Ineos look to stamp their authority.

Centre-half is a problem at Old Trafford which seems to arise every few months when the latest injury once more highlights that the position is a weakness.

This has happened again, but this time Manchester United had the strongest centre-back pairing available for all of two weeks before Lisandro Martinez found himself once more on the sidelines.

This has made the need to strengthen urgently and it’s thought that two centre-halves are wanted this coming summer with a long list of options on the shortlist for Ineos which includes Leny Yoro, Jean-Clair Todibo and Antonio Silva.

Now, the latest on United’s centre-half hunt has listed the club’s primary target.

Manchester United want Jarrad Branthwaite

21-year-old Everton defender Jarrad Branthwaite has been a name linked with United long before he became a Premier League star.

Now, it seems this could be the summer where he could make the switch as United join Spurs in being the two clubs pushing hard for his signature.

This places them firmly ahead of Chelsea, Arsenal and Real Madrid in the race for the 6ft 4in centre-half.

With two defenders among the numerous targets for this summer, Daily Mail has claimed that Branthwaite is United’s ‘primary target’ in the upcoming window.

Jarrad Branthwaite is yet to be dispossessed this season

Branthwaite is an incredibly talented defender and has the physical dominance to see United dominate set-pieces as opposed to being dominated.

Being a left-footed centre-half, Branthwaite would likely be a signing to compete with Martinez and his stats show they aren’t too dissimilar profiles despite being vastly different physically.

What’s most impressive about Branthwaite is that he hasn’t been dispossessed at all this season according to FotMob. This tells us he shares the same press-resistant qualities that Martinez brings.

Outside of this, he’s a force in defence as part of Sean Dyche’s impressive Everton side. He’s won 113 duels this season which is better than 94% of his positional peers while also completing 126 recoveries and winning 23 tackles.

He’d be the perfect young British defender to sign and assuming he doesn’t cost an absolute fortune, it’s a deal which seems fairly likely to come off.