Manchester United’s transfer hopes have been affected by the scramble ahead of the PSR deadline

Manchester United’s stalled summer transfer window has been affected again by a shock move for former England international Ben Godfrey. The Everton defender is on the verge of a bargain transfer to Serie A side Atalanta.

Godfrey has fallen down the pecking order at Goodison Park in recent seasons after a couple of injury-hit years. However, he made a significant contribution in the second half of the campaign to help the Toffees avoid relegation from the Premier League.

Everton’s position had been made all the more perilous by two separate points deductions, eventually totalling eight, which were enforced by the league after the club twice breached the Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR). And with Everton desperate not to fall foul again, they have been looking to offload players before the June 30 accounting deadline.

That had led to United making an offer for their first-choice defensive target Jarrad Branthwaite. The 22-year-old centre-half has emerged as a rising star in the top flight after returning from a loan spell at PSV and impressing under Sean Dyche.

United made an initial offer of £35m for the England international, who missed out on a spot in Gareth Southgate’s Euro 2024 squad. It was a fee that could have risen to £43m with add-ons, but it was dismissed out of hand by Everton, who value the defender around twice as high.

Everton have been determined to hold on to Branthwaite, their prized asset, and with claims that their PSR hole was smaller than in previous years, they have attempted to plug it with sales of academy and fringe players. Having sold Alex Iwobi to Fulham last September for £22m, Demarai Gray to Saudi side Al-Ettifaq for around £10m and Tom Cannon to Leicester for £7.5m the same month – deals which will be included in the latest accounts – their shortfall wasn’t as big as previous years.

Last week, academy player Lewis Dobbin was sold to Aston Villa for around £11m in a deal which saw Tim Iroegbunham move in the opposite direction for a similar fee which brought Everton close to satisfying their PSR bid.

And the transfer of Godfrey – capped twice by England under Gareth Southgate – to Atalanta for an initial fee of around £8.65m is believed by some experts to be the deal that gets them over the PSR line. Godfrey, who has just 12 months left on his contract, will have a medical with the Italian side on Friday ahead of a bargain move to the Europa League champions.

Having cost around £25m when he moved to Goodison Park from Norwich City in 2020, it represents a sizeable loss for Everton, but club officials believe it means they won’t have to accept any further lowball offers for Branthwaite or midfielder Amadou Onana, who has also been linked with a move to Old Trafford.