Manchester United have told Harry Maguire he will not be leaving the club during the transfer window barring a late change of mind by the Old Trafford hierarchy.
Erik ten Hag had recommended to United’s football director, John Murtough, that Maguire should be sold, with West Ham appearing the centre-back’s most likely destination. A £30m deal seemed close to being agreed a fortnight ago only to break down because of Maguire’s demand for a £7m payoff to make up the shortfall in salary he would have taken by accepting a reduced wage in east London.
With Ten Hag needing to find a replacement should Maguire leave in the final few days of the window, time is increasingly against him doing so, and especially so to West Ham after their £19m purchase of the Greek central defender Konstantinos Mavropanos from VfB Stuttgart last week.
Maguire joined United from Leicester for a world-record fee for a defender of £80m in August 2019 and has endured an increasingly torrid time at Old Trafford, culminating with him being stripped of the captaincy in July.
He is yet to feature for Ten Hag’s side so far this season, though he was on the bench for the 3-2 win against Nottingham Forest on Saturday.
His value to the Dutchman has increased, however, given the injury Raphaël Varane sustained against Forest. United are awaiting scans to discover the severity of the Frenchman’s injury but the club fear a prolonged absence.
On Tuesday United made a bid to take Chelsea’s Marc Cucurella on loan for the season to cover at left-back for the injured Luke Shaw and Tyrell Malacia. However, the clubs appear some way apart regarding a loan fee, with United offering £2m and Chelsea wanting £7m.
Tottenham’s Sergio Reguilón and Barcelona’s Marcos Alonso are also on Ten Hag’s list of targets.
