Manchester United plotting surprise Harry Maguire swap deal with Premier League club: Reports
Manchester United could reportedly be interested in a potential swap deal involving Harry Maguire and Amadou Onana.
The England international has been the subject of two bids from West Ham United. The Hammers' first bid of £20 million was turned down by the Red Devils but they have since returned with an improved £30 million offer.
The Mirror (h/t Football365) have now suggested that the Red Devils would entertain a bid for Maguire from Everton if Onana is allowed to go the other way. Everton reportedly value the 21-year-old Belgian midfielder at £70 million, having signed him for €35 million (£27.54 million) last summer.
Maguire, meanwhile, is valued somewhere around £30 million by the Red Devils and could hence be used as a makeweight to sign Onana. The midfielder featured in 35 games across competitions for the Toffees last season as they narrowly avoided relegation.
A move to Manchester United, who will play in the UEFA Champions League this season, could be seen as a major step up for the former LOSC Lille Metropole midfielder. He would, however, have to compete with Casemiro for a starting berth but could be seen as the 31-year-old's long-term successor.
Maguire (30) has drastically fallen down the pecking order under Erik ten Hag, who stripped the former Leicester City centre-back of his captaincy last month. It remains to be seen if he wants to join Everton, considering he turned down a move to West Ham, who finished three places above the Toffees last term.
Erik ten Hag called Manchester United star Harry Maguire's mistake 'stupid' in recent friendly draw
Erik ten Hag was not pleased with Harry Maguire's mistake in Manchester United's 1-1 pre-season friendly draw against Athletic Bilbao on 6 August.
The English centre-back was solely at fault for Athletic Club's opener, losing possession in the final third before Nico Williams put his team 1-0 in front in the 29th minute. He played the whole 90 minutes and saw Facundo Pellistri score a stoppage-time equalizer.
After the game, Ten Hag implied that the former Manchester United skipper's mistake was 'stupid', as he said (h/t GOAL)
"...It was stupid how we went down but as I said, we had a result and we came back so it was a good weekend for us."
The day before the draw against the Basque club, the Red Devils enjoyed a 3-1 win at home against RC Lens. They will open their Premier League season with a game against Wolverhampton Wanderers on 14 August — a game Maguire isn't expected to start.