---
title: "Manchester United: Transfer fee for Harry Maguire agreed"
canonical: "https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/manchester-united-transfer-fee-for-harry-maguire-agreed/"
type: "post"
language: "en-GB"
author: "Alex Ford"
section: "Manchester United Football Club"
published: "2019-07-15T18:15:25Z"
modified: "2019-07-16T14:22:28Z"
---

# Manchester United: Transfer fee for Harry Maguire agreed

**Manchester United are thought to have got a step closer in their pursuit of Leicester City’s Harry Maguire this summer, as [The Sun](https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/football/9504235/man-utd-world-record-80m-maguire-transfer-leicester-defender-medical-tomorrow/) are reporting that an £80million transfer fee has been agreed.**

The centre-back is expected to head to Manchester imminently to have his medical and could become the club’s third signing of the transfer window after Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Daniel James.

It is claimed Leicester would be paid £60m upfront before potentially earning an additional £20m in bonuses and add-ons.

![](https://cdn.footballtransfertavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/THE-BREAKDOWN.png)

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will be desperate to improve on last season’s rather poor sixth-placed Premier League finish and keen to rebuild his defence as they [conceded 54 goals last season in the top-flight](https://www.premierleague.com/stats/top/clubs/goals_conceded?se=210) and ultimately missed out on a place in the Champions League.

Their backline has come in for scathing criticism on numerous occasions throughout last year’s campaign, with Gary Neville suggesting Manchester United needed a [“new defence in its entirety”](https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2831728-gary-neville-slams-manchester-united-defence-paul-pogba-after-barcelona-loss) following the defeat to Barcelona, whilst Roy Keane, who is hardly one to mince his words, slammed the current back-four and stated his former club needed a [complete overhaul](https://metro.co.uk/2019/04/24/roy-keane-says-manchester-united-need-make-four-signings-catch-man-city-9315189/) after their loss to arch-rivals Manchester City.

Wan-Bissaka’s arrival is obviously a start, but it is evidently clear that a player of Maguire’s stature is required in the backline to help them improve further. As documented by [Sky Sports](https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11095/11622548/manchester-uniteds-victor-lindelof-has-overcome-a-difficult-start-to-shine) back in January, Victor Lindelof improved significantly as time went by and began to look like the central defender the club have desperately needed.

According to his stats by [WhoScored](https://www.whoscored.com/Teams/32/Show/England-Manchester-United), the Sweden international was ranked as their best centre-back option last season as he made an average of [1.3 tackles and 0.8 interceptions](https://www.whoscored.com/Players/100008/Show/Victor-Lindel%C3%B6f) in the 30 Premier League matches he featured in. Add Maguire’s [1 tackle and 1.2 interceptions per 90 mins](https://www.whoscored.com/Players/99487/Show/Harry-Maguire) to the mix and United’s defence could become a lot tighter.

[Chris Smalling](https://www.whoscored.com/Players/71345/Show/Chris-Smalling) and [Eric Bailly](https://www.whoscored.com/Players/243814/Show/Eric-Bailly) (both registering 1.3 tackles and 1.1 interceptions) and [Phil Jones](https://www.whoscored.com/Players/81726/Show/Phil-Jones) (1.1 and 1.3) may have had better figures in those aspects of the game; however, they had played fewer matches than the Leicester ace did last season.

Maguire made 31 appearances in comparison to Jones’ 18 games and Smalling’s 24.

![](https://cdn.footballtransfertavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Verdict.png)

Strengthening the defence is a priority for Manchester United this summer, [despite Jose Mourinho pointing out the issue the previous year](https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/7793692/manchester-united-boss-jose-mourinho-never-got-his-defender-so-who-is-on-january-five-man-wishlist/), and Maguire certainly appears to be the player to help them achieve that aim – a [player the former Red Devils boss wanted 12 months ago](https://www.theguardian.com/football/2018/jul/22/jose-mourinho-manchester-united-improve-harry-maguire).

With the way modern transfer fees are these days, it should hardly come as a surprise to see Leicester demanding £80m for their 26-year-old. It would break the record for the amount spent on a centre-back – £5m more than the amount spent by Liverpool on acquiring Virgil van Dijk from Southampton in 2018 ([BBC](https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/42496637)). But given the season they just had, they surely need reinforcements if a return to the Champions League is to be on the cards.

***Man Utd fans, do you think Maguire is worth £80m? Let us know your thoughts by sharing them with us below!***