Man Utd tipped to include Harry Maguire in swap deal for Jarrad Branthwaite

Manchester United have been tipped to offer Harry Maguire to Everton in part-exchange for Jarrad Branthwaite after a "ridiculous" opening bid.

The Toffees star is among the Red Devils’ priority targets for the summer transfer window. Man United have already tabled an opening offer for the defender.

They have offered £35m for Branthwaite ’s signature. But that was rejected out of hand by Everton, who are reportedly holding out for closer to £70m for the centre-back.

Former Toffees star Don Hutchison has now suggested that United need to dig a bit deeper in order to seal a deal. He has also tipped the Red Devils to offer former captain Harry Maguire to Everton in part-exchange.

Speaking to ESPN, Hutchison said: “£35million is a ridiculous offer, they are low-balling Everton massively. If they are going to sell Branthwaite, they were rumoured to be wanting about £80 million, but that will probably come down to £60 million or £70 million, but they want a lot of money for him.”

Asked who Branthwaite would partner at Old Trafford, he added: “For United, him (Branthwaite) and Lisandro Martinez. I think they’ll try and move Harry Maguire on – [he’s] on big wages, that’ll be difficult, they might even try and use him in the Branthwaite deal if they tried to bring him in.”

Maguire, signed in a £80m deal from Leicester in 2019, has fallen out of favour over the past couple of seasons. The 31-year-old has just a year remaining on his contract at Old Trafford.

A swap deal for Branthwaite is not the only part-exchange move that the Red Devils have been backed to pursue this summer. Reports have suggested that they could offer Aaron Wan-Bissaka to Crystal Palace in an effort to sign Marc Guehi.

The centre-back has caught the eye for the Eagles and England over recent seasons. But Palace are optimistic of keeping him, having set a price tag of a minimum of £65m.

Guehi, unlike Branthwaite and Maguire, has a spot in the England squad for the Euros. He shone during the Three Lions’ opener against Serbia on Sunday.

Speaking after that game, Jude Bellingham was full of praise for the defender. He said: “He was brilliant. Brilliant. He picked the lines amazingly.

“He led against two, for me, really good centre-forwards at this level in [Dusan] Vlahovic and [Aleksandar] Mitrovic, two really, really tricky customers. It will help a lot when he has [John] Stones beside him, one of the best around. He was fantastic.”