'Man United tax' and £80m 'insanity' could deny Sir Jim Ratcliffe top transfer target

Manchester United have been cautioned that it would be "insanity" to shell out £70million for Jarrad Branthwaite.

The Everton centre-half is United's top defensive transfer target this summer, with an initial offer of £34m plus add-ons already on the table. Despite Everton's financial struggles, they are not willing to let their England prospect go cheaply, valuing him in the £70m bracket.

However, a team of football experts who specialise in player valuation have estimated Branthwaite's worth at a shockingly low £22m. ETV (Estimated Transfer Value) is a sophisticated transfer valuation algorithm developed over five years by Dutch data company SciSports, reports the Mirror.

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Their assessment suggests that the 21 year old centre-half is currently grossly overvalued. Their report states: "Value has increased significantly in the last 12 months (he was valued at 5.3m Euro/£4.5m as recently as October 2023), as he has stepped up in level from playing in the Eredivisie to regular Premier League football

"He also signed a long-term contract in October 2023 which factors into his ETV. But based on the body of work so far (less than 50 Premier League appearances), talk of Everton wanting £80m is insanity. Absolutely it seems like that Man Utd tax/young English player tax, is in play again."

Despite mixed results from their £85m purchase of Harry Maguire, United are still prepared to invest heavily in Branthwaite and are expected to make another bid. ETV has assessed the value of over 240,000 players across more than 250 leagues globally, with