Harry Maguire still stewing over West Ham move despite Man Utd accepting £30m bid
Manchester United defender Harry Maguire is yet to make a decision over his future after West Ham had a £30m bid accepted.
Hammers boss David Moyes is looking to strengthen his side after banking £105m from the sale of Declan Rice to Arsenal. They made their first senior signing on Thursday with the purchase of midfielder Edson Alvarez from Ajax and Moyes wants Maguire to be the next man through the door.
Maguire has fallen out of favour at Old Trafford, with Raphael Varane and Lisandro Martinez firmly established as Erik ten Hag’s first choice centre-back pairing. And the Dutchman’s decision to strip Maguire of the captaincy appeared to indicate his time at the club was set to come to an end.
However, the Daily Mail state that West Ham are ‘still waiting’ for Maguire to decide if he wants to leave United or stay and fight for his place. The report states that they are ‘awaiting confirmation that Maguire wants to make the move’ before discussing personal terms with the 30-year-old.
It is claimed that West Ham are ‘hopeful that he will see the benefits of joining them’, with Moyes said to be open to appointing him captain now that Rice has left. Maguire would also benefit from regular first team football given Euro 2024 is on the horizon and England boss Gareth Southgate has admitted he cannot “guarantee” a call-up for any player.
Southgate has repeatedly backed Maguire despite his struggles at club level, but with the defender making just eight Premier League starts last season his England place could be in jeopardy if he is not playing week in week out this season. “We’re not in a world where we’re cuddling,” Southgate told talkSPORT when asked about Maguire’s future.
“We’re in the tough world of professional football. He’s got two World Cup winners in the team ahead of him, Varane and Martinez are top level players. When you’re at the big clubs you’re always going to be challenged, they’re going to sign players every summer, you’ve got to compete for your position and you’ve got to take that battle on.
“If he’s not in the team he’s got a decision to make as to whether he can go and play regular football somewhere else. Put England aside, the start point for any player is are they fulfilled in their job. Most players want to play every week.
“I can never guarantee a player we’re going to pick them. It’s [Maguire and John Stones ] a partnership that’s worked brilliantly for us, so we recognise that, but there’s always new challenges coming through. There are some good young centre-backs coming through who are slowly picking up experience and that is going to be the challenge going forward.”
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