New Manchester United chief executive Omar Berrada blocked the club from signing one of their major targets this summer, it has emerged.
Berrada transitioned from Manchester City to start his role at Old Trafford earlier this summer after completing a gardening leave period.
It was a successful first summer transfer window for Berrada and the new football leadership team under Sir Jim Ratcliffe, whose INEOS company finalized a minority stake this year and now oversees United’s on-field operations.
Five significant senior signings were made to bolster Erik ten Hag’s squad.
The first acquisition was striker Joshua Zirkzee, who joined from Italian club Bologna.
United then outpaced Real Madrid to secure promising young defender Leny Yoro from Lille, although the teenager will be sidelined for several months due to a metatarsal fracture sustained in a pre-season match.
Ten Hag also reconnected with two players he had previously coached, as United brought in defensive pair Matthijs de Ligt and Noussair Mazraoui from Bayern Munich.
The transfer window concluded with the addition of Uruguayan defensive midfielder Manuel Ugarte from Paris Saint-Germain, who might debut for United against Southampton at St Mary’s, marking the end of the club’s summer transfer activities.
Central defense was clearly a focus for improvement, evidenced by the acquisitions of Yoro and De Ligt.
Additionally, United made several attempts to sign Everton’s Jarrad Branthwaite, but the Goodison Park club set a valuation between £75 million and £80 million.
An initial bid of £35 million plus add-ons was rejected, and a second offer of £45 million with an additional £5 million in extras was also turned down. As a result, United opted to sign De Ligt as a more cost-effective alternative to Branthwaite.
It appears that new United CEO Berrada was instrumental in the decision to abandon the pursuit of Branthwaite and seek other options.
ESPN reports that Berrada insisted United adhere to their player valuation limits rather than acquiesce to the demands of selling clubs. United had valued Branthwaite between £50 million and £60 million, which was below Everton’s minimum asking price of £75 million, citing the £77 million Manchester City paid for Josko Gvardiol in 2023 as a benchmark.
Berrada reportedly considered Branthwaite less experienced compared to Gvardiol and, despite the possibility that Everton might have lowered their price as the transfer window progressed, United chose not to wait.
Berrada commented, “We were quite disciplined about the valuations we set for the players we wanted to sign. We adhered to those valuations because overspending or acquiring a player at too high a cost could set us back.”
