Manchester City player Rihad Mahrez has risked the ire of his new colleagues by insisting Harry Maguire ‘deserves a move to a higher club’ amid links of the Leicester City star moving to Old Trafford.
Maguire has been a stand out star at the World Cup after a fine season playing for the Foxes, and as arguably the only starting player from the England team who is likely to move this summer, a hefty price tag of £50-60m has been mentioned in the press.
It may be enough to tempt the former champions into selling considering they paid only £17m for the star just one year ago.
And Mahrez – who spent the last year agitating for a move away from Leicester – has stirred the fire.
“He’s a very good player,” Mahrez told reporters, about his former team-mate. “Since the day he came to Leicester, the season he had last season as well, it doesn’t surprise me to see him succeeding at the World Cup. Of course he deserves to play higher. But Leicester is a good club as well, so it’s him, he’ll have to decide and see.”
The Mail today have linked United with a move for the England star. Jose Mourinho is apparently keen to strengthen the centre of defence and with other targets seeming unrealistically priced, he may still see Maguire as good value in a market where Virgil van Dijk and Aymeric Laporte both cost more than £50m.