Harry Maguire is still awaiting to be given the green light by Manchester United to complete his move to David Moyes’ West Ham United, but the reason behind the delay has been revealed.
The two clubs agreed a fee for the English defender three days ago but Maguire still hasn’t been given the greenlight to travel to East London to undergo a medical.
According to Fabrizio Romano, United are waiting to give the defender permission to travel down to London as they look to source a replacement for the former captain of the Old Trafford club.
He reports: “Understand deal’s not done yet because Man United want to start talks and pick favorite candidate as replacement before letting Harry go.”
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Talks and discussions underway
The fee for the defender is rumoured to be around £30 million, according to The Athletic, and United have begun looking for replacements.
According to Romano’s post on X, United are looking to pick their favourite target and begin talks with that player before they allow the English defender to complete the move to the Hammers.
Moyes has confirmed that West Ham have agreed a fee with United for Maguire, he said: “We’ve had a bid accepted from Manchester United for the Maguire deal.
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“But, while he’s not our player, I’m not in a position to discuss him,” Moyes said according to The Athletic.
Who will be the ‘favourite’ target
It’s difficult to say who the favourite target of Erik ten Hag would be, although it does seem likely that it’ll be one of two players – Benjamin Pavard or Jean-Clair Todibo.
The OGC Nice defender, Todibo, has been linked with United for a while and he is on the list of targets at centre-back according to The Athletic.
Pavard has been heavily linked with United in the past 24 hours, with Bayern demanding around £26 million for the defender according to Florian Plettenberg.
Both players would be cheap but, as things stand, Todibo may well be the more likely target for the Red Devils. This is due to his age, 23, and his ball-playing abilities, which is something that ten Hag will no doubt appreciate.