Bayern Munich have embarrassed Everton during Manchester United transfer negotiations

Bayern Munich has thoroughly embarrassed Everton in their negotiations with Manchester United regarding the potential transfer of Matthijs de Ligt.

Manchester United are currently searching for new centre-back options after the last campaign saw Erik ten Hag‘s men concede over 80 goals and deal with a mammoth injury crisis.

Raphaël Varane, Lisandro Martínez, Harry Maguire, Victor Lindelöf, and Jonny Evans all spent extensive lengths of time on the sidelines at Old Trafford, and in light of this, the club have been searching for new talents with multiple of the aforementioned names likely to leave.

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The window started with Jarrad Branthwaite being the most often-linked player to United. The club submitted a bid of £35 million plus a further £8 million in add-ons to Everton, which was rejected.

Alongside the rejection, Everton threw United a demand upwards of £70 million, citing Harry Maguire’s £80 million move in 2019 as the benchmark for what they believe Branhwaite was worth. It’s a very bizarre reference point, considering that it’s universally accepted that United grossly overpaid for the English centre-half at the time.

Although it is likely that United will submit a second bid at some point this window, their attention has seemingly switched to Bayern Munich’s 24-year-old defender Matthijs de Ligt, where negotiations are much more reasonable.

De Ligt rose to prominence under Ten Hag at Ajax, where he became club captain at just 19 and was a stellar performer during their famous 2018/19 campaign, where they won the league and reached the Champions League semi-finals.

However, despite his immense clear talent, De Ligt’s career has not quite taken off since, with injuries and underwhelming performances at Juventus and then Bayern halting his trajectory.

With this in mind, Bayern have been much more reasonable with their transfer demands, reportedly asking for a fee of around £42 million plus bonuses. Although United have not made any official bid, it is said that the two clubs are in contact and that De Ligt is keen on the move.

Bayern’s valuation of De Ligt embarrasses the demands that Everton are making. While Branthwaite’s talent is immense, he is much less of a proven player than De Ligt, having just one season of elite football against De Ligt’s six years. De Ligt has proven himself on the biggest stages, while Branthwaite’s potential move would be shrouded with uncertainty.

If the Maguire comparisons are also considered, Everton’s demands look even more bizarre. At the time, Maguire was performing very well at Leicester City after initially proving his abilities at Hull and was a key player with England, having started for them during the 2018 World Cup.

On the other hand, Branthwaite has not achieved anywhere near this level, having been left out of England’s 2024 European Championship squad even though Maguire’s recent injury provided extra space.

Bayern Munich’s valuation takes all factors into consideration, from De Ligt’s clear talent and experience to his underwhelming impact and previous injury issues. Everton, on the other hand, have made a Branthwaite valuation that hinges on an over-paid transfer that grossly overestimates their player’s abilities as of now.

Although Branthwaite may be a superbly talented player who could command such a fee in the future, Everton have been thoroughly embarrassed.

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