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Manchester United are showing intent in terms of incomings with them being close to sealing their second signing but the club continue to struggle while offloading players.
It is well known that the Red Devils are working with a reduced transfer kitty this window and need to sell players in order to fund further signings apart from Mason Mount and Andre Onana.
One player who has been earmarked for departure is Harry Maguire who has been asked by manager Erik ten Hag to leave the club this window.
Maguire on his way out
The Englishman was forced to relinquish the captain’s armband due to his reduced status in the squad, with the 30-year-old effectively fifth-choice at the moment.
United had paid a reported £80million in 2019 to land the England international from Leicester but are willing to sell Maguire at a cut-price fee of around £35million.
However, due to incremental increase in his wages, he is currently out of reach for several Premier League suitors like West Ham and Newcastle.
The centre-back will need to slash his wages to get a move and with him having two years left in his current deal, Football Insider have claimed that he wants the remaining £20million wages to be paid before he agrees to move.
“Harry Maguire wants his £10million-a-year Man United contract to be paid up before he quits this summer, sources have told Football Insider.
“Sources say the defender wants paying off to leave United – or he could be willing to sit out his contract and wait for his chance under Ten Hag.”
The 20-time English league champions’ difficulty in offloading their former skipper has resulted in them missing out on Serie A Defender of the Year Kim Min-jae who joined Bayern Munich.
Difficulty offloading Maguire is costing United
Plan B was Monaco centre-back Axel Disasi but even he is inching closer to a move to St James’ Park and United could find themselves without a reliable backup if they cannot sell Maguire in time.
The former Leicester star, on his own part, wants to stay and fight for his place and even underwent special training in a bid to impress during pre-season.
Last year was not a good one for the English star as he started only 16 games in all competitions, a huge drop-off in terms of numbers he was registering in prior seasons.
England manager Gareth Southgate has already warned him of the consequences of playing so little club football and it remains to be seen what happens in the end with Maguire.
