Chelsea tipped to swoop in and hijack Man Utd’s £50m transfer move for England star this summer after reported interest

Chelsea tipped to swoop in and hijack Man Utd’s £50m transfer move for England star this summer after reported interest

Pat Nevin has tipped Chelsea to swoop in and hijack Manchester United’s plans to sign Everton and England defender Jarrad Branthwaite this summer.

United are expected to revive their efforts to sign Branthwaite at the end of the season having failed twice to agree a transfer fee with Everton for the centre-back last summer.

Branthwaite has continued to impress this season under Sean Dyche and David Moyes but is said to be keen to move to a club playing in Europe as he looks to force his way into Thomas Tuchel’s reckoning ahead of the 2026 World Cup

If it had been me at Chelsea, I would have gone for Jarrad Branthwaite a year ago over any player that Chelsea did sign in that defensive area,’ Nevin told CasinoHawks

‘Dean Huijsen at Bournemouth is also special, he could become a Virgil van Dijk type, but we shall see. Certainly with Chelsea, Branthwaite ticked every single imaginable box.

‘But it would be expensive. So if Manchester United took him it wouldn’t be a surprise. If Chelsea took him it wouldn’t be a surprise.’

Despite his impressive performances for Everton, Branthwaite was overlooked by Tuchel when the German announced his first England squad
And Nevin feels that Branthwaite may well be a victim of Tuchel’s short-term thinking as the former Bayern Munich and Chelsea boss turns his full focus towards the 2026 World Cup in little under 18 months.

‘Jarrad Branthwaite would start for England for me, but I think he’s a victim of a short-term manager, it’s just as simple as that,’ the Scotsman added

If you’re a long-term manager you need a squad to build up players and develop the internationals, if you’re short-term, what do you do? You pick people that have done it for a long time and are experienced at international level. That’s it.

‘If you were building an England team for the next campaign, you’d have him in there. But if you’re only interested in this campaign and nothing else then no, I know what he’s doing.

‘I understand what the manager’s doing and although it’s a bit saddening and a shame for Jarrad and for England and developing young players, it makes perfect sense. If it was me, he’d be in the squad. But then I’m a huge fan