Manchester United appear to be closing in on the signature of Leicester City’s Harry Maguire this summer if the latest information by Fabrizio Romano is anything to go by.
Harry Maguire is set for medicals. All details completed between Man United and Leicester, it’s paperworks time then it’ll be official. Here we go! #MUFC #ManUnited #transfers
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) August 3, 2019
The reliable journalist has revealed a deal has been agreed between the two clubs for the centre-back and that the England international is set to have his medical with the Red Devils.
Although he has not revealed a transfer fee, Sky Sports have reported it to be in the region of £80m.
Rebuilding the defence will have been high on the list of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s defence this summer after a rather poor campaign. The backline came in for some huge criticisms at times throughout the season from former players as Manchester United conceded 54 goals last season in the top-flight and finished outside of the top-six in the Premier League.
Gary Neville stated the Red Devils needed a “new defence in its entirety” following the defeat to Barcelona, whilst Roy Keane, who is hardly one to bite his tongue, slammed the current back-four and stated they needed a complete overhaul after their loss to arch-rivals Manchester City.
The need for a new centre-back will have only become greater recently as well with Eric Bailly is set to miss the first half of the season after suffering a knee injury in their friendly with Tottenham Hotspur and requiring surgery (club’s official website).
And, it seems the club are finally closing in on the signature of Maguire who could help them improve in that area alongside the addition of Aaron Wan-Bissaka. The ex-Crystal Palace man appears to have taken life with the Red Devils well as The Independent stated he looked “defensively solid” in their pre-season match against Leeds United in Australia.
Putting him alongside Victor Lindelof, Solskjaer can perhaps breathe a little easier and be more relaxed with his defence moving ahead. As Sky Sports noted, the Swede improved drastically as the campaign entered the final few months of the season, whereas WhoScored compiled stats that made him the club’s best defender.
Lindelof made an average of 1.3 tackles and 0.8 interceptions in the 30 Premier League matches he featured in. Add Maguire’s 1 tackle and 1.2 interceptions per 90 mins from his 31 top-flight appearances to the mix and United’s defence could become a lot tighter.
It would appear that this ongoing transfer saga is finally going to be coming to an end imminently if Romano’s latest update is anything to go by and, considering his reliability and credibility, it would be wrong to dismiss it.
Maguire has all the ability to help improve Manchester United’s defence significantly and it seems they are about to land a player Jose Mourinho had wanted to bring to Old Trafford 12 months ago.
£80m might be a lot of money for a 26-year-old – as it would break the record for the amount spent on a centre-back with it being £5m more than the amount spent by Liverpool on acquiring Virgil van Dijk from Southampton in 2018 (BBC) – but, with Champions League football the target for Solskjaer’s men, it might just have to be a transfer fee that needs to be paid this summer.
Manchester United fans, do you think Maguire will improve your defence significantly? Let us know your thoughts by sharing them below!
