Manchester City consider stunning £50m bid for England international

Manchester City are pondering an eye-watering £50m bid for Leicester centre-back Harry Maguire, claims The Sun.

Pep Guardiola is desperate to sign another centre-back this month and has been forced back to the drawing board after missing out on Virgil van Dijk to Liverpool.

Real Sociedad’s Inigo Martinez, Barcelona defender Samuel Umtiti and former Manchester United centre-back Jonny Evans have all been linked with a move to City this month and now Maguire has been earmarked as a potential target.

Maguire only joined Leicester from Hull in a £17m deal in the summer but has flourished for the Foxes and proven a real bargain for Claude Puel’s side.

The sight of Maguire bulldozing his way out from the back is becoming a regular occurrence and his impressive performances have landed him on Guardiola’s radar.

In fact, only Artur Masuaku (60) has completed more dribbles than Maguire (32) of all defenders in the Premier League this season.

Moreover, of the 294 players that have attempted at least 30 dribbles in Europe’s top five leagues this season, Maguire has the third best success rate (84.2%).

While Maguire is capable of driving the ball out from the back, the Leicester defender is also a huge threat in the opposition’s penalty box.

In fact, only Chelsea duo Cesar Azpilicueta and Marcos Alonso (both 7) have played a direct hand in more goals than Maguire (6) of all defenders in the Premier League this season.