England’s Harry Maguire is Manchester United’s prime target. (Source: AP)
According to reports in the British media, England’s Harry Maguire is the prime target of Manchester United after his impressive performance at the FIFA World Cup 2018.
The Leicester City central defender gave an impressive performance along with John Stones during the World Cup tournament in Russia to help England on their way to the semifinals. Leicester signed Maguire, who played every minute in their last year’s league campaign, from Hull City on a five-year contract. He came in limelight during the World Cup as he stood out in defence and scored a goal in his first major International final during England’s 2-0 win against Sweden in quarterfinals.
Thai owners of Leicester are, however, reluctant to sell the 25-year old, who reportedly wants to move to the Premier League 2017-18 runners-up. Earlier, Leicester sold Algerian forward Riyad Mahrez to reigning champions Manchester City for a club record fee of USD 79 million.
According to the Daily Mirror, Maguire is expected to cost 65 million pounds with part of the outlay being offset by selling Argentinian defender Marcos Rojo, who United valued at 30million pounds, and Italian full-back Matteo Darmian. Premier League newboys Wolverhampton Wanderers have shown interest in Rojo.
Meanwhile, a report on The Sun says that Maguire’s chances of moving to United could depend on whether Leicester are successful in buying Newcastle skipper Jamaal Lascelles. Leicester are reportedly preparing a 35 million pounds bid for the player voted by the fans The Magpies player of last season.
The transfer deadline day is scheduled to be on August 9 while the Premier League new season begins on August 10.