Leicester City star Harry Maguire is set to become Manchester United’s third signing of the summer, with a deal for the defender reportedly in the ‘final stages’.
Maguire has been Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s primary defensive target since the the start of the summer window and United executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward has been in talks over an £80m move for the England international.
This move would make Maguire the most expensive defender of all time, exceeding the world-record £75m fee Liverpool paid to sign Virgil van Dijk back in January 2018.
According to Gianluca Di Marzio, United’s deal for Maguire is in the ‘closing stages’, with Leicester respecting the centre-defender’s wish to secure a move to the theatre of dreams.
Though Manchester City were frontrunners to sign Maguire earlier this summer window, the English defender expressed his desire to move to Old Trafford once it became evident that their interest was serious.
Leicester have been resigned to losing Harry Maguire for some time and negotiations have been advancing at a rapid pace, with United desperate to get a deal done before deadline day on August 8.
The Red Devils have already signed Daniel James and Aaron Wan-Bissaka from Swansea and Crystal Palace respectively this summer window.
Talk of Maguire’s impending transfer to United intensified after he missed Leicester City training this week. However, the club maintain that Maguire has been suffering with an illness and this was the reason for him missing Monday’s training.
Maguire reportedly phoned in sick and was advised to stay at home while the rest of Brendan Rodgers’ team trained at the club’s Training Ground.
Maguire managed 90 minutes of Leicester’s 2-1 victory over Stoke at the weekend and Rodgers had nothing but praise for his attitude in pre-season.
‘He’s been brilliant since the first day of pre-season,’ the Leicester manager said. ‘There’s a lot of speculation around Harry but he’s just got on with it.
