Manchester United have reportedly named their price for England defender Harry Maguire, but the figure quoted by the Old Trafford club means that the 30-year-old may be forced to stay.
According to Samuel Luckhurst, chief football writer of the Manchester Evening News, United reportedly value the defender at £50 million, a figure which is likely to make any interested party balk at the valuation.
Having bought the defender for £80 million back in the summer of 2019, it hasn’t really worked out for Maguire who only featured 16 times last season under Erik ten Hag.
It seemed for all the world that the defender was set to leave Old Trafford, but with United slapping such a high valuation on the former Leicester City defender, it now seems likely that he will remain in Manchester.
Maguire was recently pictured with former Chelsea defender, Ricardo Carvalho. The defender has reportedly been training three times a day for three weeks in preparation for the new season, which now seemingly will be under United boss Erik ten Hag.
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Maguire will seemingly remain out in the cold at Old Trafford
During ten Hag’s first season in Manchester, his preference for his centre-back duo was Raphael Varane and new signing, Lisandro Martinez. After Maguire featured in the first two games of the season, which were defeats to Brighton and Brentford, the English defender was dropped for Varane.
United, finally, improved and ended up finishing the season in third and winning the Carabao Cup. With a bit-part role for the 30-year-old defender, it seemed certain he would be leaving. Whether Maguire would be a back-up next season, remains to be seen.
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With Varane and Martinez as the first-choice pairing, the backup defenders would seemingly be Victor Lindelof, who was more than a capable stand-in, and Luke Shaw, who would move from left-back to left centre-back with Tyrell Malacia brought in to deputise.
United unwilling to sell the 30-year-old defender
Despite this, United are, according to the same report from the Manchester Evening News, unwilling to sell the defender. Now, whether this is because there are no willing buyers for that price, will be at the forefront of many United fans’ thoughts.
With Axel Disasi, of AS Monaco, reportedly a target for United, the sale of Maguire would be needed if the Frenchman is brought in, which seems unlikely, as things stand.