West Ham are reportedly keeping tabs on Manchester United captain Harry Maguire but, speaking to talkSPORT (18 January, 12.10pm), neither Danny Murphy nor former Premier League owner Simon Jordan can imagine a January move occurring.
Manchester City supporters could almost set their watch by it. During Roberto Mancini’s days in charge of the Etihad Stadium, it became commonplace to see Jolean Lescott rise from the bench in stoppage time, shoring up the City defence in the dying seconds of a vital win.
These days, Maguire is playing a similar role under Erik ten Hag down the road at Old Trafford. With Raphael Varane, Lisandro Martinez, Victor Lindelof and now Luke Shaw all ahead of him in Ten Hag’s pecking order, the £80 million England international is now United’s third-choice centre-half for both the right and left-hand side.
This is not to say Maguire does not still have an important role to play, however. Ten Hag dusted him off and brought him on to help see out big wins over Arsenal, Wolves and Man City, after all. What’s more, a resurgent Man United side need all the depth they can get; two-legged EFL Cup and Europa League ties looming on the horizon.
Erik ten Hag wants to keep West Ham target Harry Maguire at Man United
“If I was Erik ten Hag, I’d be looking to keep him,” says ex-Liverpool midfielder Murphy. “Because then you know, if you get a few injuries, you have someone you can rely on who’s got a strong character and a good presence.”
According to The Mirror, West Ham could offer Maguire a route out of Old Trafford; three-and-a-half years after becoming the world’s most expensive-ever centre-half when Ole Gunnar Solskjaer splashed out a staggering £80 million.
Murphy, however, feels that a January departure to a relegation-threatened side is not in Maguire’s best interests.
“From his point of view, he’s probably better waiting until the summer, when he’ll have better options,” Murphy adds. “The worry is, if you go out on loan to somewhere like West Ham – who are struggling a bit – he could have a little bit of a bad time. All of a sudden, the options reduce because he has a bad few months at West Ham.
“So, I don’t see that happening.”
Former Crystal Palace owner Jordan, meanwhile, feels that Maguire’s reported £190,000-a-week wages are another sizeable stumbling block.
“He’s been there three years. So, the current value they have him on their books for is probably around £20 million,” Jordan begins. “I just can’t see Maguire at West Ham. I don’t think his salary will fit into the scale that maybe West Ham are prepared to pay.
“We know they had real troubles with the contract of Kurt Zouma, with how much they were prepared to pay him. I think Maguire is on a lot more money than Zouma is on.”
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