Revealed: Why Harry Maguire's Man Utd exit collapsed

Stuart Telford

• Updated: 20 Aug 2023 12:11 BST
• 3 min read

Harry Maguire was all set to join West Ham from Manchester United for £30 million, but the deal fell through at the last minute. Now Sam Allardyce has lifted the lid on why.

Maguire became surplus to requirements at United under Erik ten Hag last season, starting just eight of his 16 Premier League games as the Dutchman preferred Raphael Varane and Lisandro Martinez at centre-back.

West Ham were credited with an interest in the England international, and they were understood to have lodged a bid of £30m - a significant decrease on the £80m the Red Devils paid Leicester for him in 2019.

READ: Man Utd given chance to sign ULTIMATE Harry Maguire upgrade

Reports emerged that United had rejected it, having a change of heart, but Allardyce, a former West Ham manager who knows Maguire's agent Kenneth Shepherd well, doesn't think that's the case.

Allardyce: 'he's turned it down'

"He turned West Ham down, he's turned it down," the former long-time Bolton boss told the No Tippy Tappy Football Podcast. "I know his agent really well.

"I think - and this is no disrespect to West Ham, because I managed them - he feels that with the troubles they had last season down the bottom of the league, he doesn't want to be going there, he wants something bigger."

READ: EXCLUSIVE: Man Utd transfer plans in jeopardy as Maguire and Amrabat deals stall

Maguire was pictured having a meal at restaurant near Aston Villa's training ground last winter, sending amateur sleuths into a frenzy, but they have since signed another left-sided centre-back in Pau Torres.

Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur have also since been linked with a move for Maguire, who Pep Guardiola has admitted he wanted to sign in 2019 before he moved to the red half of Manchester instead.

Maguire is valued at €21.1 million by FootballTransfers' in-house algorithm - with an ETV of €59.5m - and his sale would raise welcome funds with Ten Hag reportedly still interested in signing a No.6 to play alongside Casemiro.