Former Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand has claimed that Red Devils’ captain Harry Maguire could be looking for a new club following his dramatic fall from grace at Old Trafford.
Still the most expensive defender in world football, the England centre-back looks to be out of first-team contention under Erik ten Hag. After returning from the World Cup, he was left on the bench during the Red Devils’ victory over Nottingham Forest due to illness - Luke Shaw being preferred in a somewhat unconventional central role.
Maguire remained among the substitutes for United’s trip to Molineux to face Wolverhampton Wanderers with Shaw again partnering Raphael Varane. Ahead of kick-off, Ferdinand claimed that Maguire should be looking to leave Old Trafford should he fail to win his place back in the side.
Speaking to BT Sport, he said: "If I'm Harry Maguire, I'm looking for a new club right now. This new manager [Ten Hag] is showing by his team selection that he is not going to be one of the two, three top centre-backs at this club."
Ferdinand is not the only one to have backed the England defender to quit Old Trafford in the near future. Ally McCoist also suggested a move could be on the cards sooner than later if things stay the same.
“I think he [Maguire] will move,” he said. “I don’t think he may move, I’ll go one further – I think he WILL move.
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“He isn’t going to hang around – he wants to play. I don’t think there are any guarantees that he’s going to march back into the Manchester United team, not in front of [Raphael] Varane and [Lisandro] Martinez.”
Whilst it remains to be seen if Maguire seals a move away from United in either January or in the following summer transfer window, his current circumstances could yet worsen. Reports in Italy have claimed that the Red Devils’ are planning a swoop for Napoli’s centre-back Kim Min-Jae.
The South Korean has impressed during his first-half season in Italy since a move from Fenerbahce and continued his excellent form in the World Cup. It has been claimed that the defender has a €44m (£38m) release clause written into his contract at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona which could make a deal relatively easy to conclude.
Should he arrive at Old Trafford then that would likely see Maguire fall even further down the pecking order. The defender, 29, has two-and-a-half years left on the long-term contract that he signed after arriving from Leicester City back in 2019.
Since then, he has made 154 appearances for the Red Devils but has only been afforded five Premier League outings this term.
