Manchester City will reportedly have to shell out a significant transfer fee to sign one of their targets this summer.
The Citizens have shown in previous transfer windows that they aren’t shy when it comes to spending big amounts of money to sign players.
Names such as Jack Grealish (£100m), Josko Gvardiol (£77m) and Ruben Dias (£65m) have all joined the Manchester club in recent years for hefty transfer fees.
With another summer transfer window close to opening, some behind-the-scenes details have come to light regarding another player the Blues have on their radar that they may have to spend a lot of money to sign.
Man City will have to shell out Harry Maguire money to land Jarrad Branthwaite
A recent report from The Athletic had this to say on the matter.
It said: “Jarrad Branthwaite has also attracted interest from Manchester United, among others, but Everton’s preference would be for the young defender to stay and develop for one more season at least.
“The 21-year-old is happy on Merseyside and has been rewarded for his progress this season with a call-up for England’s provisional squad for the summer’s European Championship.
“The priority for Everton to keep what was the fourth-best defence in the league last season together if possible, giving them solid foundations for the new campaign.
“There is an acceptance, though, that the club are not out of the woods financially just yet and that the sale of one key asset per season may well be needed to get them back on an even keel.
“Their position is such that all significant bids will have to be entertained out of necessity.
“In Branthwaite’s case, Everton have looked at other notable transfers to top clubs involving Josko Gvardiol, Wesley Fofana and Harry Maguire, and value him in a similar bracket (£70-80m).”
Should City make the investment to sign Branthwaite?
Back in March, it was reported that City are one of the clubs with their eyes on the Everton defender ahead of the upcoming summer window.
With Gvardiol being one of the deals mentioned in regards to the sort of money Everton would want for their centre-back, the other examples include Fofana’s £75m move to Chelsea in 2022 and Maguire’s £80m switch to Manchester United back in 2019.
Having featured in 35 Premier League games this season, Branthwaite ended the campaign with the second-highest total of clearances (163), blocks (51) and interceptions (50) in the Everton squad.
He also has the second-highest total of tackles in the defensive third of the pitch at the Merseyside club, further highlighting his defensive abilities.
Now that it has been made clear how much Branthwaite will cost, the decision City will have to make now is whether they think the defender would be a suitable addition to their squad and if they think he’s worth the fee Everton want for him.
