Manchester United have seen a second bid worth a total of £50 million ($64m) for Jarrad Branthwaite rejected with Everton holding out for closer to £70m for the defender, sources have told ESPN.
The 22-year-old made his senior England debut against Bosnia & Herzegovina at the end of last season before missing out on Gareth Southgate's 26-man squad for Euro 2024.
Despite failing to make the England plane to Germany, Branthwaite emerged as one of the brightest defensive prospects in the Premier League last season.
United have identified the former Carlisle player as a priority target as the club look to rebuild their squad this summer. They lodged an initial bid of £35m plus £8m in performance-related add-ons for Branthwaite last month -- an offer that was swiftly rejected by Everton.
And they have now seen an increased offer to transfer Branthwaite go the same way.
Sources told ESPN the Goodison Park club rate Branthwaite, who cost just £1m when signing from EFL League Two side Carlisle in Jan 2020, at £70m and are unlikely to accept United's latest offer.
Although Everton's financial constraints have eased in recent weeks with the departures of Ben Godfrey, Dele Alli, André Gomes and Lewis Dobbin helping the club comply with Profit and Sustainability rules, any deal to offload Branthwaite would involve an obligation to pay Carlisle 15% of any transfer fee due to the terms of the agreement that took the player to Goodison four years ago.
United, meanwhile, also have an active interest in Bayern Munich's Matthijs de Ligt and Bologna forward Joshua Zerkzee and the club are attempting to finance moves in the transfer market by offloading several players including Mason Greenwood, Jadon Sancho, Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Donny van de Beek.
Defenders Harry Maguire and Victor Lindelöf, whose contracts expire in June 2025, could also be moved on if United are successful in their attempts to sign Branthwaite or De Ligt.