Given the ludicrous transfer fees Manchester United have forked up post-Sir Alex Ferguson, they’ve been forced to cut their losses in numerous deals as of late.
The likes of £73 million Jadon Sancho springs to mind, as he never reached the scintillating levels he so frequently displayed at Borussia Dortmund since he arrived at Old Trafford in 2021.
Now, his most prolific form in England has come following his summer loan move to Chelsea, where he’ll spend the campaign before his transfer becomes permanent upon the culmination of 2024/2025. United will receive a guaranteed fee of £20 million if their rivals finish in the top 14 of the table, which may rise to £25m with add-ons.
Yet, the deal that still gets discussed almost weekly by rival fans or pundits is Harry Maguire’s move from Leicester City. United forked out a whopping £80m to welcome the England international, who earns a reported £190,000 per week, to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s ranks in 2019, and he has endured fluctuating form ever since – though, you’d struggle to cherry-pick any player who’s consistently flourished in the current set-up.
Frequently in Erik ten Hag’s tenure has the centre-half been made to settle for a reduced role – particularly in his maiden term, as Maguire made only eight Premier League starts in total across the nine-month campaign after falling behind Lisandro Martinez and Raphael Varane in the pecking order.
He has since been a dependable figure to call upon, though, and admirably picked himself up and dusted himself off when he was stripped of the captaincy by Ten Hag in the summer of 2023.
Injury-prone Maguire may be approaching the end of his United tenure
However, according to a fresh report relayed by the Metro this morning, Ten Hag has instructed INEOS to sanction Maguire’s exit in the winter window, with the club preparing to take a £70m hit on what they paid for him five years ago.
The 31-year-old, albeit reliable when on the pitch, has struggled with numerous injury setbacks in the past year; he missed around 17 matches in all competitions at club level in 2023/2024 – including the FA Cup final – before being ruled out of England’s Euros campaign in the summer.
This season, he was absent from United’s 3-0 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur last month due to a knock and, after being given the nod against Aston Villa, was forced off moments before the interval and replaced by De Ligt.
It’s probably the right call, assuming money really is tight. However, having seen Ten Hag’s track record with signings these last two years, if I were INEOS, I’m not sure I’d be keen on taking ETH’s “instructions” in that regard.