On Saturday it emerged that Aston Villa are in the process of finalising an agreement with Everton to sign Amadou Onana.

The Athletic claimed that a deal said to be in the region of £50million is close while personal terms have been agreed between Villa and the 22-year-old on a long-term contract.

Onana had been a key target for Unai Emery ahead of Villa’s Champions League campaign next term, while the player is thought to be enthusiastic about playing for the Spaniard.

And according to the publication, Everton’s sale of Onana could have huge implications for United’s attempts to sign Jarrad Branthwaite.

Everton’s position is said to be that the departure of Onana means they would not sell Branthwaite this summer, barring any hugely substantial offers for the centre-back.

Everton believe Branthwaite, who narrowly missed out on a place in England’s squad for the Euros, is in the same bracket as the likes of Wesley Fofana, Harry Maguire and Josko Gvardiol, all of whom were sold for fees in excess of £75million in recent summers.

United had submitted two bids for Branthwaite (Getty)

The Toffees have already rejected two offers from United for the 22-year-old, with the most recent being worth £45million plus £5m in add-ons.

Elsewhere, United had also been credited with an interest in Onana in the past, along with Arsenal, Newcastle United, Bayern Munich and Barcelona.

The midfielder had been participating with Belgium in the European Championships this summer, only to be knocked out by France in the round-of-16 stage of the tournament.

Villa have so far signed Enzo Barrenechea from Juventus and Ross Barkley from Luton Town to fill central midfield positions, while Douglas Luiz moved for Juventus and Tim Iroegbunam joined Everton.