Man Utd transfers: Ten Hag officially ends Tottenham, West Ham hopes of signing outcast with ‘very important’ verdict
Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag has left Tottenham and West Ham frustrated by revealing a player will not be going anywhere this summer, despite him not necessarily starting regularly next season.
Man Utd have already allowed David de Gea, Phil Jones and Axel Tuanzebe to leave Old Trafford on free transfers this summer. And several more players have been tipped to find new clubs as Ten Hag ushers in the next stage of his Man Utd revolution.
The likes of Fred, Scott McTominay, Jadon Sancho, Harry Maguire and Donny van de Beek could all be made available for transfer.
The rumours surrounding centre-back Maguire intensified on July 16 after Ten Hag stripped him of the captaincy, with Bruno Fernandes becoming Man Utd’s new leader.
Tottenham, West Ham and Aston Villa have all been keeping tabs on Maguire’s situation. Chelsea were recently backed to make a shock approach for him, but according to The Guardian they hope to re-sign former player Marc Guehi instead.
On Thursday, talkSPORT explained how Ten Hag wants Maguire to stay at Man Utd, despite his disappointment about the captaincy.
And the Red Devils manager has now confirmed that to be the case, effectively ending Spurs, West Ham and Villa’s hopes of signing the England international.
“Harry’s very important for this squad, for this team,” Ten Hag said (via the Evening Standard).
Ten Hag discusses Harry Maguire situation at Man Utd
“And, you know, in his role as centre-back, we have four centre-backs. I talked about consistency and we know we can’t do it with 11 players and so I’m happy we have four very good centre-backs.
“And we will need them, and he has to fight for his place, as he did last year. He has a high potential so I’m sure he will do it, he will fight for his place and then it’s up to him.”
Last season, Maguire was behind Lisandro Martinez, Raphael Varane and Victor Lindelof in the centre-back pecking order. It seems that will be the case again next term, although Maguire will not face competition from fellow defender Eric Bailly as he may soon be sold.
Even if Ten Hag did allow Maguire to begin talks over joining a rival Prem team, it is unclear whether such discussions would result in an agreement.
Man Utd paid a whopping £80m when signing Maguire from Leicester in 2019. As such, they would want a decent amount of that money back when letting him go.
However, interested clubs would not want to pay a high fee given the fact Maguire is now 30 years old and is also low on confidence following a tough spell at Man Utd.
Plus, Maguire received a pay rise after Man Utd qualified for next season’s Champions League, just like most of his team-mates. As such, he now earns way more than what the likes of Spurs or West Ham would be happy to pay him.
Instead of gaining a transfer, Maguire will now try to force his way back into the Man Utd side. If he fails to do this, then he risks only playing a bit-part role for England at Euro 2024.