Harry Maguire’s likely price-tag revealed as he mulls over Old Trafford exit to protect England career
Harry Maguire reportedly wants to stay at Manchester United but may try and navigate a move away to keep his spot in the England squad.
According to The Athletic, the defender is keen on staying in Manchester and enjoys being the club’s captain, despite Bruno Fernandes donning the armband significantly more this season.
Across 2022/2023, Maguire started just 16 games in all competitions. He featured for 1,593 minutes, which is a drastic drop-off compared to last term’s 3,169 minutes, as per The Athletic’s report.
Since Erik ten Hag’s arrival last summer, Maguire has fallen in the pecking order to Lisandro Martinez, Raphael Varane, Victor Lindelof and even Luke Shaw, who has been played out of his usual position on numerous occasions to take on a new role at left centre-back.
Maguire’s England future in doubt
The 30-year-old is currently mulling over an Old Trafford exit in a bid to protect his England career; Maguire has always been one of Gareth Southgate’s most trusted lieutenants, but the manager recently admitted that his lack of game time could see him drop out of the setup to make way for more active, in-form players.
Southgate said: “Inevitably it’s not a situation that can continue forever. Of course, the longer that situation goes on the more concerning it is. We’ve got Marc Guehi, Lewis Dunk, [and] Tyrone Mings, players who are playing well without the same experiences of club European football or international football. But we’ve got to keep searching for competition in that area of the pitch.”
Sources believe that Maguire would return a fee of around £40 million should United sanction his exit, though whether any other clubs are willing to pay his £190,000-a-week wages remains to be seen.