Man Utd's Harry Maguire transfer U-turn

Stuart Telford

• 29 Aug 2023 10:21 CDT
• 3 min read

Harry Maguire is set to stay at Manchester United - at least until January - with the club now changing their mind about selling their former captain.

Maguire became surplus to requirements at United under Erik ten Hag last season, with the Dutchman using Raphael Varane and Lisandro Martinez as his first-choice central defence and Victor Lindelof as their first substitute.

Maguire only started eight of his 16 Premier League games last season, and he had looked likely to join West Ham after the Hammers lodged a £30 million bid for the England defender.

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But the deal fell through for more than one reasons. Sam Allardyce claimed that Maguire didn't fancy the drop down in level, and it has since emerged that the player wanted a £7m payoff to make the move to account for the potential drop in salary.

Either way, West Ham were spooked enough to sign former Arsenal centre-back Konstantinos Mavropanos from VfB Stuttgart, paying €20m (£17.2m) for the Greece international's services.

'Maguire will not be leaving'

"Manchester United have told Harry Maguire he will not be leaving the club during the transfer window barring a late change of mind by the Old Trafford hierarchy," reports The Guardian's Jamie Jackson.

"With Ten Hag needing to find a replacement should Maguire leave in the final few days of the window, time is increasingly against him doing so…"

READ: Man Utd: Cash-strapped club should look to capable Dalot to fill left-back role

Maguire remains the most expensive centre-back of all time following his £80m move to Old Trafford from Leicester in 2019.

He is now valued at just €21.1m (£18.2m) by FootballTransfers' in-house algorithm, with an ETV of €59.5M (£51.2m), which would make West Ham's bid seem fair.

The inability to shift Maguire - or indeed Scott McTominay - in the current transfer window could have a ripple effect for United, with FFP restrictions meaning they can't spend big to replace a replacement for the injured Luke Shaw at left-back, or a No.6 to anchor the midfield alongside Casemiro.