Man City could offload £45m player to help sign ‘magnificent’ transfer target this summer - opinion

Manchester City could use one of their current players to land a reported transfer target this summer.

Previous summer transfer windows have seen numerous players make moves out of the Manchester club to join other top-flight clubs.

Some recent examples of this include Raheem Sterling, Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko.

Another more recent example of City seeing one of their players join another top-flight side is Kalvin Phillips, who made a loan move to West Ham United back in January.

Now though, with another summer transfer window close to opening, we feel that the Citizens could use Phillips to help them secure a potential deal for a current top-flight star they reported have their eyes on.

City could use Phillips to help land Jarrad Branthwaite transfer deal

Earlier this week, it was reported that Everton are exploring the possibility of signing Phillips on loan this summer after being in the frame to do the same back in January before he eventually joined West Ham.

This, we feel, could give the Blues an opportunity to sign Toffees defender Jarrad Branthwaite, who the Manchester club have been linked with in recent weeks.

City are reportedly hoping to sell Phillips, who they paid £45m to sign back in 2022, on a permanent basis, but Everton’s financial situation could hamper that possibility.

However, if the Premier League champions make an offer that includes Phillips and an appropriate financial sum, this could be a win-win situation for both clubs.

Branthwaite has proved himself to be a top player this season

Having featured in 35 Premier League games this season, the Everton defender racked up the second-highest number of clearances (163), interceptions (50), blocks (51), recoveries (181) and tackles in the defensive third of the pitch (42) at the Merseyside club.

In fact, the Englishman’s performance in Everton’s 1-0 win over West Ham United was described as “magnificent” by Alan Shearer.

This shows just how much of a top defensive player Branthwaite has proved himself to be at the age of 21.

Therefore, if the Everton defender is someone City want to land a deal for this summer, using Phillips could be a smart way for them to do just that.