Manchester United have been very busy in the summer transfer window, these past couple weeks, but we’re still waiting for all these deals to actually get closed. So with that, we bring you the latest on the Manuel Ugarte, Mason Greenwood and Jarrad Branthwaite situations.
Let’s start with Ugarte.
According to French outlet Le 10 Sport, United have sent an offer worth €45 million for the 23-year-old defensive midfielder. The Uruguayan, currently with the national side at the Copa America tournament, moved to the Parc des Princes last summer from Sporting CP, just last summer, for a fee of €60m (£50.8m).
Widespread reports indicate that United would be paying a similar figure for Ugarte, once this is figured out.
Shifting gears to Greenwood, it was revealed that Marseille, who are now led by former Brighton & Hove Albion manager Roberto de Zerbi, submitted a bid for the forward.
Today we learned that the bid is worth £26.7m, including add-ons, and that United have agreed to sell.
MUFC inserted a significant sell-on clause into the deal, which is thought to be between 40%-50% (Sky Sports).
Hopefully, they can wrap this up quickly, and then Greenwood will never be a United player again. That’s best for all involved.
Finally, with Branthwaite, Monday saw United submit a bid of £45m up front, with an additional £5m in add-ons to Everton for the central defender.
Everyone thought it would likely be turned down.
Sure enough it was! Everton are sticking to their crazy high valuation of Branthwaite.
Paul M. Banks is the Founding Editor of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He currently contributes to Ravens Wire, part of the USA Today SMG’s NFL Wire Network and the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America. His past bylines include the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated, Chicago Tribune and the Washington Times. You can follow him on Linked In and Twitter.