Harry Maguire could stay at Manchester United – opinion
There was almost an expectation that Harry Maguire would be sold by Manchester United this summer. An acceptance that the skipper would easily find a new club happy to pay his salary.
Rumours flitted about, linking the Reds strongly with Kim-min Jae of Napoli, yet the Korean now looks set to join Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich.
The offer multiple Italian outlets reported on never materialised, as far as the fans have been made aware, with United thus far completing one deal after Mason Mount’s arrival from Chelsea earlier this week.
Unless, United bring in a new central defender to bolster out defensive department, I don’t see Maguire going anywhere regardless of how bleak a future at Old Trafford looks like for him.
Considering how Erik ten Hag’s first season went for Maguire, he should be considered fifth choice – since there was a sustained period when Luke Shaw preferred to the natural centre-back. That means he had Victor Lindelof, Lisandro Martinez, Raphael Varane getting in ahead of him at United.
Event: Re:United with Andy Mitten and JP O’Neill @ The Sugar Club in Dublin – on the eve of Manchester United’s pre-season friendly against Bilbao.
It’s an entirely different situation for Maguire because deep down he knows this isn’t what he wants. He also has his international career to worry about and Gareth Southgate isn’t going to keep keeping him if he’s sat on the bench, which is also a problem for United because he earns a high salary. It’s definitely a sign if you are club captain as well as fifth choice in your role at United (only getting games when players are injured/suspended), but we’ve heard of very little serious interest in his signature this summer.
New season = New shirt. #manutd #mufc pic.twitter.com/dlUZOIzLyk
— Harry Maguire (@HarryMaguire93) June 27, 2023
Maguire is not United class, but I think there will be a lot of teams in the Premier League that would be interested in signing him, and the transfer fee on top of his wage demands is bound be a problem for most clubs. The Guardian’s headline this morning raised eyebrows when it read ‘Harry Maguire’s pay rise makes selling defender harder for Manchester United’, because I suddenly forgot myself about Champions League qualification bringing a squad salary increase.
The problem for United, is Maguire’s salary increase makes it even more challenging to move him on this summer.
With investment in the centre-back department unlikely, it seems more plausible to think that Maguire will be playing his football at Old Trafford at the start of next season. There is nothing to suggest that anyone is a hurry to seal his signature before pre-season, but he could see more movement in the market when players return to their clubs for pre-season preparations.
United are trying to snap up former Ajax goalkeeper Andre Onana from Inter Milan for a relatively big-money fee, though it’s worth pointing out that this is signing could make life a lot easier for Maguire at Old Trafford — even for the short-term. David de Gea’s contract has already expired, but in Onana, defenders playing in front of him can rest assured once they learn about his sweeping capabilities.
Whilst we’ve no doubt that Maguire should be sold this summer, but the strong likelihood of him staying could very well boil down to multiple factors within the decision-making process itself.
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