Why Man Utd need Maguire to replace De Gea

Stuart Telford

• 4 Jul 2023 16:27 BST
• 3 min read

Harry Maguire could prove key to Manchester United in their quest to replace David de Gea with Inter Milan's Andre Onana as the new No.1 at Old Trafford.

De Gea is now out of contract with Man Utd - although he has been offered reduced terms of less than £200,000 per week to re-sign - and Erik ten Hag's former Ajax goalkeeper Onana, now of Inter, has been shortlisted to replace him.

The problem for United is that after paying Chelsea an initial £55 million for Mason Mount, they only have £65m left to spend this summer due to UEFA's Financial Fair Play regulations - and Inter are demanding the bulk of that to part ways with their Cameroonian shot-stopper.

READ: Why Man Utd have FFP problems

Player sales will alleviate that pressure at Old Trafford, and Harry Maguire is among the most valuable of 12 players recently made available for transfer - but the England defender could now act as a counter-weight in any Onana deal.

Inter wanted Maguire in January

"The England international [was] wanted by Inter Milan back in January, [and] he could be perfect for a swap deal with the Serie A giants," writes Jack Otway of The Daily Express.

"… the Serie A giants surprisingly enquired about Maguire's availability as they looked to strengthen their defence. Yet United, reluctant to lose their skipper halfway through the season, rebuffed the approach."

READ: The TWELVE players Man Utd will DUMP in mass summer clear-out

Inter have since lost Martin Skriniar on a free transfer to Paris Saint-Germain, so the need for Maguire at the San Siro is more pronounced that it was before.

Maguire is valued at €27.6m by FootballTransfers' in-house algorithm; Onana €17.6m, but it is understood the clubs would settle for €40m and €60m respectively for their players.

Should United give Inter Maguire plus something in the region of €20m, Inter could patch up their defence and spend the remainder on a new goalkeeper, with the market for that position generally cheaper than some outfield positions.