Ruthless Ten Hag ‘decides’ to sell humbled Man Utd star for stunningly low fee

Erik ten Hag has deemed a mega-money Manchester United star he’s humbled once before ‘surplus to requirements’, and a report claims a January exit for a cut-price fee will be sought.

For the time being at least Ten Hag appears to have avoided the sack and per The Daily Star, the Man Utd manager is already thinking ahead to the January window.

The outlet claimed Ten Hag has ‘decided’ centre-back Harry Maguire is ‘surplus to requirements’ on the back of signing Matthijs De Ligt last summer.

Ten Hag has already humbled Maguire once before when stripping him of the captaincy in the summer of 2023. Per the report, Ten Hag is ready to end Maguire’s United career by offloading him for a heavily-discounted fee in the winter window.

Man Utd will reportedly ‘listen to offers’ that start at just £10m. That is a far cry from the £80m Maguire cost to sign from Leicester in 2019. It is also some way short of the £30m bid West Ham saw accepted in 2023 before the move ultimately fell through.

Maguire is in the final year of his contract, though the club do hold an option for an extra season. The Daily Star claimed Man Utd will trigger the clause only if they fail to sell Maguire in January.

That would give Man Utd breathing room to seek a buyer once again in the 2025 summer window, which the report stated is exactly what the club would do.

READ MORE: The key contract details of every Man Utd first-team player: Expiry dates, weekly wages, agents…

Man Utd tell Maguire conditions for triggering option

The Daily Star’s claims echo much of what Football Insider reported about Man Utd’s intentions for Maguire earlier in October.

FI stated Man Utd are ‘desperate’ not to lose Maguire for nothing and stressed a January exit would be sought.

TEAMtalk’s transfer insider, Fraser Gillan, recently did some digging into Maguire’s situation and confirmed no new contract – beyond the one-year option – is on the horizon for the defender.

Furthermore, we’ve been told Man Utd have informed Maguire that he must accept certain conditions before the club will activate his option.

Chief among them is Maguire accepting he’s no longer a regular starter. United – at least while Ten Hag is in charge – want to feature De Ligt and Lisandro Martinez as their centre-back pairing.

It is our understanding that West Ham – who previously tried to sign Maguire in 2023 – are weighing up a January approach.

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In other news, Ten Hag’s former assistant coach, Benni McCarthy, has backed the Dutchman to retain his job amid claims there isn’t actually a superior option out there.

That won’t stop Man Utd from exploring the managerial market, however, with Give Me Sport reporting Ruben Amorim has been added to United’s shortlist of replacements.

Elsewhere, The Independent claimed news of Thomas Tuchel being in talks to become the new England boss could be a smokescreen.

They suggested Tuchel flirting with England could merely be a tactic by the German’s representatives to put pressure on Man Utd to act.

Finally, AS state Liverpool have shown the ‘greatest interest’ of all potential suitors in signing a player Man Utd let go just last summer.