Reports: Manchester United Asked To Pay £50 Million For Top Target
What's the rumour?
The Harry Maguire saga has been going on for quite a while and it looks like the clubs are nearing the point of agreement as Sky Sports News reporter Michael Bridge has stated in their Transfer Talk podcast that Manchester United have been asked to cough up £50 million by the Foxes.
The rise in transfer fee comes on the back of Maguire's impressive showings at the World Cup.
In case you didn't know...
Manchester United have been in the market for a centre-back and had earmarked Harry Maguire as their top target.
United have only made one high-profile signing this summer and Jose Mourinho has cut a frustrated figure with the club not looking as enterprising in the transfer market as they have in the recent past.
The heart of the matter
Harry Maguire rose to prominence after putting in some spectacular performances for the Foxes in the 2017-18 season. This earned him a spot in the England squad that made it to the semifinals of the World Cup.
Maguire is solid at the back and is an immense threat from set-pieces. This makes him an ideal signing for Jose Mourinho.
United have been vying for his signature and have been frontrunners to sign him. Now Michael Bridge has said this in the transfer talk podcast,
“Leicester want £50m for Maguire after his performances at the World Cup.”
Money won't be a problem for Manchester United but once glance at their team sheet and you can see that they have no dearth of centre-backs in their squad.
The Red Devils currently have Eric Bailly, Chris Smalling, Phil Jones, Victor Lindelof, Axel Tuanzebe and Timothy Fosu-Mensah (primarily a full-back but can play at centre-back as well) on their payroll.
Rumour rating/probability: 7/10
Sky Sports is a pretty reliable source for these rumours and the price sounds like a fair one in this day and age.
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What's next?
United's interest in Maguire seems solid and they'd be ready to pay £50 million for the centre-back with Jose Mourinho desperate to bolster his backline ahead of the new Premier League season. But this could mean that one of United's seasoned campaigners might get offloaded.