Man Utd target to be closely watched by Amorim as Everton visit

Everton's Jarrad Branthwaite has been linked with a move to Man Utd as they look to bolster the leaky defence.

Last summer Everton stood their ground with manager Sean Dyche not wanting to lose a key player in defence but United are still in the market for a centre half and will be looking at him again for January.

Rubem Amorim has not had long to assess the United squad but in his first few games the weakness at the back has once again been evident.

And there has also been talk of United moving for Ousmane Diomande at his former club Sporting.

Dyche said that Everton made a 'brave decision' to decline United's £50 million bid for Branthwaite. The reason being, that selling him would 'dilute' their squad significantly.

It was last June that United put £45 million on the table plus £5 million in add-ons.

But Dyche got his way saying that Everton needed to stop cashing in on their best players to raise money. He warned that the policy would weaken their squad and make it more difficult to stay in the Premier League.

Branthwaite will be heading to Old Trafford with Everton for Sunday's visit and while Dyche was delighted Everton heeded his advice in keeping him last summer, this may not be the end of the story.

Everton demanded £70 million for Branthwaite during the summer, given his potential as a 22-year-old left-footed England centre-half.

Despite the tempting offers, Everton and Dyche remain committed to keeping Branthwaite and allowing him space to further develop.

Dyche believes the peak for these players, such as Branthwaite, will bring more significant income in the future. But the question is if he produces a solid performance against the Reds this weekend, will it persuade United to splash out on him by paying that little bit more.