West Ham United have reportedly reopened talks with Manchester United over signing fringe defender Harry Maguire.
According to The Sun, West Ham United are back in talks with Manchester United over a potential deal to sign Harry Maguire and are even prepared to contribute to his pay-off to facilitate the transfer before the September 1 deadline.
The Hammers have been trying to lure the 30-year-old away from Old Trafford ever since receiving the big pay-check from Declan Rice’s sale to Arsenal. They had a £30 million bid accepted earlier this month, but the transfer did not materialise in the end.
Maguire, who has two years left on his deal at Old Trafford, pulled the plug on the deal after he refused to agree personal terms with the reigning Europa Conference League winner. It has been suggested that the East London side offered the England international a four-year deal for £120,000 per week. That is a £70,000 paycut from his current £190,000 that he pockets at United every week.
As such, the Red Devils offered him around £6 million to sweeten his departure. But that was not sufficient to convince the player, who is apparently insisting on his current club for a hefty pay-off before considering his future elsewhere.
As a result, the Hammers opted to sign Konstantinos Mavropanos from Stuttgart. But The Sun now suggests that they have reopened talks over a late swoop for Maguire. It is suggested that David Moyes’s side are trying to find a way to help Manchester United compensate the 30-year-old defender and are prepared to pay a little more to compensate for the pay-off.
The issue for Manchester United is that they need sales to fund more reinforcements, and after a stumbling start to the new season, Erik ten Hag certainly needs more additions before Friday’s deadline.
Having started just eight Premier League games last season and yet to feature in any of the Red Devils’ opening three games of the 2023/24 season, Maguire has fallen dramatically down the pecking order under Erik ten Hag and is effectively the fifth-choice centre-back option currently, while he was also stripped of the captaincy in the off-season.
The Red Devils were initially eager to sign Benjamin Pavard from Bayern Munich as Maguire’s replacement. And they planned to enter formal negotiations but ended their pursuit after the latter’s West Ham move collapsed.
With Pavard on his way to Inter Milan, Manchester United will most likely turn their attention to Nice’s Jean-Clair Todibo. He would cost in the region of €40 million, and the Red Devils could easily afford him if Maguire is convinced to head for the exit door in the coming days.
