The Manchester United rebuild is certainly underway, but there are still many miles left to travel.
While Ineos have set about providing a new lick of paint while strengthening the foundations, there are still a few broken windows to fix and a lingering stench of mould to vanquish.
Manchester United’s mixed start to the new Premier League season simultaneously highlights both the progress they have made, and also how much work still needs to be done.
The Red Devils were sloppy at home to Fulham on the opening day and won. They were excellent for long spells at Brighton and lost. Erik ten Hag bemoaned an Alejandro Garnacho strike ruled out by VAR shortly before Joao Pedro’s 95th minute winner.
Ten Hag’s team should also have beaten Crystal Palace on Saturday. But, as Man United’s Andre Onana pulled off an ‘unbelievable’ double save in the second-half, they were also maybe a little fortunate to even take a point back home.
Manchester United still want Everton’s Jarrad Branthwaite
At least, while United’s finishing remains erratic, their defence appears much improved.
Onana lauds the impact of Noussair Mazraoui and Matthijs de Ligt, his former Ajax team-mates proving to be outstanding value for money already. United also still have arguably their marquee summer signing to come in.
Leny Yoro is stepping up his recovery after suffering a broken foot in pre-season.
That long-overdue restructuring of Manchester United’s defence, meanwhile, largely sums up where the club is at as a whole. Things are looking up, improvements being made, but no one is taking their foot off the gas just yet.
And nor should they, with a few gaps still to be plugged.
The Manchester Evening News report that Man United will not give up on Everton’s Jarrad Branthwaite.
After two failed bids – CEO Omar Berrada refused to accept Everton’s £75m demands – the Red Devils plan to keep Branthwaite at the forefront of their thinking heading into 2025.
Harry Maguire, Victor Lindelof and Jonny Evans are all due to become free-agents by next July, after all. Man United still need defenders. And, particularly, left-sided ones.
Who knows? Next summer, Everton might have been relegated. Their precarious financial position may have become that little bit worse.
Branthwaite, furthermore, will have one year less on his contract. There is a very real chance, then, that The Toffees will have little choice but to soften their stance and reduce the price-tag of their prized England international.
Real Madrid may want revenge after Man United snapped up Leny Yoro
Competition for Branthwaite’s signature will be fierce. HITC report that Real Madrid have entered the fray.
And while Erik ten Hag’s side have shown that they can fight off the European Champions in a transfer duel – United snapped up Yoro despite Real Madrid’s obvious admiration – ensuring that history repeats itself will be no easy task.
Especially as Real still have the funds they would have spent on Yoro burning a hole in Florentino Perez’s back pocket.
Despite Kylian Mbappe’s colossal wages and his eye-watering signing-on fee, Real are likely to be enjoy a position of financial strength during any potential Branthwaite bidding war.
Man United’s £52 million Yoro deal inadvertently ensuring that the reserves set aside by Los Blancos for a new central defender remain untouched. Furthermore, would the former Carlisle starlet have reservations about joining a United side already boasting arguably the finest left-sided centre-half on the planet in Lisandro Martinez?
That is just another question which, as of right now, remains without an answer.
Alongside Branthwaite, Madrid are also pursuing Murillo of Nottingham Forest. Arsenal colossus William Saliba is also on their radar, alongside Tottenham Hotspur’s Cristian Romero.
Romero has been linked with Man United too of late. The World Cup winner has struck up a formidable partnership with Martinez on Argentina duty.
But with Branthwaite still seemingly Man United’s go-to option, Ten Hag and co will be hoping that all the groundwork they laid when trying and failing to lure the 22-year-old away from Everton can provide a stable platform for a new assault.
- READ MORE: Who is Lisandro Martinez? Step inside the life of Manchester United’s tenacious Argentine
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