Despite murmurings that West Ham and other parties may be interested in relieving Manchester United of their problematic Harry Maguire situation, The Telegraph’s Chief Football Correspondent, Jason Burt, contends that the London club are “not back” in for the wantaway star.
Burt has revealed discussions that took place between West Ham officials and representatives of Maguire last week but with no positive results ensuing. What materialized instead was the club’s signing of the former Arsenal centre-half Konstantinos Mavropanos, which suggests they have terminated their interest in Maguire.
Burt has also confirmed West Ham are “not currently” in the market for a center-back following the Mavropanos deal.
Fabrizio Romano had prior to this indicated Maguire was still keen to join the London club, with the contention that the prospect of playing under David Moyes appealed particularly to Maguire, with the Scotsman’s low-block defensive unit the ideal set-up for him.
United appear dead set on shifting Maguire, who has fallen from first-choice to fifth choice center-back under Erik ten Hag’s watch, despite efforts by the Dutchman to publicly back Maguire while still positively rating his attitude and professionalism in United’s dressing room.
It is believed that a more suitable defender like OGC Nice’s Jean-Clair Todibo would be an ideal choice to replace Maguire once he departs Old Trafford, which would better fit Ten Hag’s plan. The Nice defender has the requisite physical attributes and is proficient with the ball at his feet, besides ranking highly in ball progression statistics. However, there are reports indicatitng United would first need to shift Maguire out before they are able to pursue Todibo.
The update from Burt indicates Todibo’s future is looking more likely to reside in Ligue 1 this season rather than in the Premier League, so it looks Maguire could remain at Old Trafford longer than he prefers to.