Man Utd tipped to brutally sell senior star in January amid contract concern

Manchester United will look to offload Harry Maguire in the January transfer window as they do not want to lose him for free next summer, as per a report.

According to Football Insider, Man Utd are ‘desperate’ not to see £80million (€96m / US$106.7m) signing Maguire walk away from Old Trafford on a free transfer when his contract expires at the end of the season. The report adds that Man Utd do not want to activate their option to extend the centre-back’s deal until June 2026, either.

As such, Red Devils chiefs Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Dan Ashworth have ‘hatched a plan’ to find Maguire a new club this winter.

There is no mention of where the defender might go next, although he has previously been linked with other Premier League clubs such as West Ham United, Newcastle United and even Chelsea.

If this report is to be believed, then the Man Utd hierarchy clearly feel Erik ten Hag – or possibly his managerial replacement – can cope without Maguire in the squad.

Man Utd worked hard to improve their defence in the summer, signing centre-backs Matthijs de Ligt and Leny Yoro, as well as versatile full-back Noussair Mazraoui.

Yoro still has not made his competitive debut for Man Utd after suffering a foot injury in pre-season, though Ten Hag revealed last week that the French starlet is ‘doing very well’ and will return ‘soon’.

De Ligt, meanwhile, has gone into the centre-half pecking order above Maguire, Victor Lindelof and Jonny Evans and has already featured seven times for Man Utd this campaign.

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Wages could affect Maguire’s exit chances

There are a couple of factors which might scupper Man Utd’s chances of offloading Maguire. The first is his big wages, which are in the region of £190,000 a week.

West Ham previously discovered that Maguire does not want to drop his weekly earnings by a large amount when joining his next club, either.

Secondly, the England star’s potential suitors are unlikely to want to pay money for him in January when they know a free transfer is possible at the end of the season.

Plus, some involved with Man Utd are unsure if De Ligt is even an upgrade on Maguire.

Amid doubts surrounding the Dutchman’s ability, Paul Scholes said on The Overlap recently: “Erik ten Hag couldn’t wait to get Matthijs de Ligt instead of Harry Maguire, he was just waiting for the opportunity,” Scholes said on The Overlap.

“I’m not sure it’s that much of an upgrade – De Ligt played against Southampton, Maguire would have been fine against Southampton.

“He might be slightly better, but it’s not a massive improvement where you think, ‘Wow’. It’s like that with all the signings.”

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Meanwhile, Ten Hag could depart Man Utd before Maguire amid intense speculation on the manager’s future.

Sources have confirmed to TEAMtalk that some within the club have ‘no confidence’ Ten Hag will keep his job beyond this season.

Assistant manager Ruud van Nistelrooy is the obvious candidate to take charge of the club on an interim basis, should Ten Hag be axed.

Graham Potter has been linked with the permanent job and he said he is ‘open to anything’ during an appearance on Sky Sports’ Monday Night Football.

While the Ten Hag situation is giving Man Utd officials a serious headache, the club might soon be given some good news through former player Mason Greenwood.

The forward has had a great start to his Marseille career and this has prompted Barcelona to take a look into signing him, The Sun report.

Barca are supposedly willing to pay £60m (€72m / US$80m) for Greenwood. As Man Utd included a major sell-on clause when letting the 23-year-old join Marseille – somewhere between 40-50 per cent – they will receive a nice boost to their transfer kitty if Greenwood heads to Barca.

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Man Utd’s win rate with and without Maguire

By Nathan Egerton

Maguire joined United from Leicester City in the summer of 2019 and initially became one of the first names on the team sheet under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

But he has played a bit-part role under Ten Hag in the last two years and is currently behind Lisandro Martinez and De Ligt in the pecking order.

Overall, Maguire has started 128 Premier League games for United. They have won 69 of those games, drawn 30 and lost 29.

United have a 53.9 per cent win rate when the England international starts in the Premier League and a 22.6 per cent loss rate.

They also conceded 149 goals in those games, averaging 1.16 goals conceded per league game.

Maguire has been left out of the United starting XI in 68 Premier League games. They have won 29 of those games, drawn 16 and lost 23.

United’s win rate drops to 42.6 per cent when the centre-back doesn’t start in the Premier League and their loss rate rises to 33.8 per cent.

They conceded 111 Premier League goals without Maguire on the pitch, averaging 1.63 goals conceded per game.