Manchester United inform Leicester of intention to sign key man
Manchester United have informed Leicester City of their intention to sign centre-back and fan favourite Harry Maguire, reports the Daily Mirror.
Maguire was a star man for England at the 2018 World Cup as he scored the opening goal in their 2-0 quarter-final win over Sweden.
However, the 24-year-old won’t come cheap for United, with the Foxes thought to be holding out for upwards of £65m for the defender.
United are looking to add a new defender to the ranks this summer and have been keeping tabs on Tottenham’s Toby Alderweireld.
Spurs are holding out for upwards of £55m for the Belgian, who has one year left to run on his current deal in north London, which has seen United turn their attention to Maguire.
The 25-year-old is one year into a five-year deal penned following his arrival from Hull City for £17m last summer and the Foxes are keen to reward Maguire for his fine form with a new contract that would see him earn over £100,000-a-week.
Harry Maguire: No player won possession in the defensive third more times than @HarryMaguire93 (179) in the Premier League last season
— WhoScored.com (@WhoScored) July 24, 2018
For more player stats -- https://t.co/BSEYdcOmIl pic.twitter.com/flnu3Nuola
With Chris Smalling and Phil Jones both out of favour at Old Trafford, head coach Jose Mourinho is looking to bolster his centre-back options and Maguire, who won possession in the defensive third 179 times in the Premier League last season, is one of his top targets.
* £11-12m initially, rising to £17m as stated in the article due to add-ons. Not sure what they were but even at £17m, what a steal.
I'm a big fan of his and was calling for Arsenal to sign him from Hull. Due to Hull's relegation, Leicester were able to get Maguire for around £11-12m. Arsenal scouted him and apparently his mobility was questioned. He certainly looks immobile when he is dribbling past midfielders in the middle third. Leicester can make a huge profit on him, like they have with Mahrez, Kante etc, but they should be careful to not turn into a selling club. They haven't really replaced Kante, although N'didi is young so he could develop and time will tell if they can replace Mahrez. I don't think they can replace Maguire unless they spend most or all of what they get for him, due to a dearth of ball-playing CBs who can defend, then comes the question of would a player that good actually choose to join a small club in the midlands? £65m would be hard to turn down, and would be good business for Utd even if the price is steep (based on v. Dijk being £75m), but if I were a Foxes fan, I'd hope he stays.