Some of the focus has turned towards departures, with reporting of a €20m bid from West Ham for defender Harry Maguire.
Manchester United are open to a sale, but want more than the east London have offered and immediately rejected the bid.
I don’t think anyone was surprised by that, even though most believe Maguire should be sold this summer.
The England centre-back hasn’t had the chance to stand out in many games on tour because Erik ten Hag has opted to give minutes to other defenders as well as prioritising his main duo Raphael Varane and Lisandro Martinez. Maguire found out the hard way last season that he had been pushed down the pecking order at United. I can imagine it getting worse – in terms of game time – next term…
Maguire himself has not said much about his situation. However, his camp have briefed he’s happy to stay at Old Trafford and fight for his place under Ten Hag. We are talking about a good professional here and I think a lot of fans online ignore that when it comes to the former Leicester City defender.
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I’ve seen some people suggest he’s not willing to fight for a place based on that. Simply happy to collect his salary at United for another year, but I think that is doing him a bit of a disservice. Maguire will know exactly what Ten Hag expects from him and every other player in terms of hard work, commitment and application in training as well as games.
But the reality of Maguire situation is that if United decide to sell, it’s going to be difficult to find a guy willing to match his salary – unless he is happy to settle for less elsewhere.
Sure, he could dig his heels in and say he doesn’t want to go, but I don’t think Maguire has that stance. I think he would go if there was a tempting offer from another top club. So let’s see what happens. The fact we are still in the US might be something that has a bearing on Maguire’s future and others.
The money West Ham offered was laughable. Everyone knows they pocketed £105m for Declan Rice this summer!
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