The next few days and, potentially, weeks in Manchester United’s pursuit of Jarrad Branthwaite will tell us a lot about the new football structure in place at Old Trafford.
It won’t be a perfect comparison. As Sir Jim Ratcliffe admitted this week, Ineos are operating without the staff they desire and until that positions shift “it’s difficult to change”. Dan Ashworth remains on gardening leave from Newcastle and Omar Berrada only takes up post as chief executive in three weeks.
For now, it’s technical director Jason Wilcox and director of football negotiations Matt Hargreaves who are leading the window and within a week they have found their first significant test. Now for the time in recent seasons, United have lowballed an opening offer for a player they want.
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The £43million bid for Jarrad Branthwiate was rejected by Everton, who saw it as a £35m offer given they felt the add-ons weren’t all realistic to hit. That is half the £70m price tag they have put on his head.
We’ve been here before with United. In 2019 they ended up going all the way to Leicester City’s £80m asking price for Harry Maguire and even paid that fee in one installment. The size of that deal is being used against them now, even if senior figures at Old Trafford are right to point out the comparisons aren’t valid given the way the market has changed in the previous five seasons.
Everton are sticking to their guns, however, and you can see why they would. It took United four bids to land Mason Mount a year ago, failing with offers of £40m, £50m and £55m, before agreeing a deal for the latter sum as well as £5m in add-ons. Those extras are ambitious targets but the final deal was close to the asking price Chelsea had always wanted for a player with a year left on his contract.
Rewind another year to Erik ten Hag’s first summer in charge and Ajax ran rings around United. In mid-July club officials were adamant they wouldn’t pay the £50m the Dutch giants wanted for Antony. By the end of the window, they had paid £85m, one of the most egregious examples of overpaying in recent transfer windows.
Having already sold Lisandro Martinez to United in that window, there was no pressure on Ajax to sell, so in the words of chief executive Edwin van der Sar “we challenged United to go as far as possible.” It was a challenge they met with gusto.
Even last year United felt they had to act swiftly to conclude a deal for Rasmus Hojlund, negotiating with Atalanta in-person until 3am to thrash out an initial £64m deal, with a further £8m in add-ons. That was days after United had poured cold water on the suggestion they would go above £60m.
So it is with some confidence that Everton hold their position. They feel they have seen this play out before and know how it usually ends up.
This is Ineos’ chance to show that they are different. If they pull this deal off with a fee closer to their starting point than Everton’s then it will be seen as a win and a statement of intent for the new football structure at Old Trafford. If they end up getting close to £70m then it will only embolden other clubs that little has changed. Alternatively, they could decide Everton’s demands remain unrealistic and walk away.
This is the preconception that United always have to fight against, that as soon as they ring to enquire about a player the ‘United tax’ gets slapped onto the fee. They have only fuelled that theory in recent seasons.