With no Premier League matches this weekend, speculation is rife at Old Trafford, much of it surrounding the future of manager Erik ten Hag.
£70m loss on Harry Maguire ahead of the January transfer window.
Since his £80m transfer from Leicester City in 2019, Maguire has had a challenging time at the club. As the most expensive defender in history, there were high expectations for him to shine and become a top Premier League defender.
Maguire was quickly made captain after his arrival, but last year he was stripped of the armband following heavy criticism from both club legends and a significant portion of the fanbase.
At 31, Maguire has been fighting to regain his form at Manchester United, but injuries have plagued his efforts. His fitness problems cost him a spot in England’s Euro 2024 squad and he suffered another injury before the current international break, limping off in the scoreless draw against Aston Villa.
Maguire mentioned he expected to be out for a “few weeks,” giving him little time to prove himself to United before a potential sale in January.
Last year, Ten Hag was willing to let Maguire leave, but after a failed transfer to West Ham, he continued to use the England international. Despite this, Manchester United signed two new centre-backs over the summer, indicating Ten Hag may still have doubts about Maguire.
According to the Daily Star, Ten Hag has now approved Maguire’s departure ahead of the winter window, with United ready to accept offers as low as £10m, marking a significant £70m loss.
Over the summer, United also spent over £50m to sign French talent Leny Yoro, beating Real Madrid and Liverpool to his signature, and brought in Dutch international Matthijs de Ligt from Bayern Munich.
Though De Ligt has struggled in his early days at United, Ten Hag plans to give him time to adapt and expects to rely on Yoro once he recovers from an injury sustained during pre-season.
Maguire also faces competition from Lisandro Martinez, a World Cup winner with Argentina, and veteran Jonny Evans, who delivered a standout performance at Villa Park last weekend.
Discussing the injury setback he had against Aston Villa, Maguire said: ‘Frustrated to pick up an injury at the weekend.
‘Will be a few weeks on the sideline for me but I’ll come back stronger.’
Ten Hag was keen to throw De Ligt into his defence at the start of the campaign and United legend Paul Scholes believes he ‘could not wait’ to drop Maguire.
But the ex-England midfielder is not convinced that De Ligt is ‘much of an upgrade’ on Maguire.
‘He could not wait to get de Ligt straight in ahead of Maguire, he was just waiting for the opportunity,’ Scholes told The Overlap with Sky Bet.
‘And look, in all honestly, I’m not sure it is that much of an upgrade. He might be slightly better but he is not a massive improvement where you think, “wow”.’
