Harry Maguire breaks silence on West Ham interest and shuts down major theory; lays out future Man Utd plans
Man Utd centre-back Harry Maguire
Manchester United defender Harry Maguire has moved to end claims he was close to signing for West Ham in the summer, while also discussing whether he expects to remain at Old Trafford beyond this season.
Maguire was heavily tipped to leave Man Utd over the summer, and those rumours intensified after it emerged that Erik ten Hag had stripped him of the captaincy and given the armband to Bruno Fernandes. The centre-back was resultantly linked with moves to West Ham, Newcastle, Aston Villa and Everton.
Out of those four teams, it was West Ham who seemingly pushed hardest to complete a deal, with Irons boss David Moyes understood to be a big fan of Maguire.
West Ham then had a £30million bid for the Englishman accepted, allowing them to enter contract talks with him and his agent. However, the transfer was then called off as several reports claimed Maguire did not want to join West Ham, with his priority instead being to remain at Man Utd.
In the end, Maguire stayed in Manchester, and he is looking to get back into Ten Hag’s starting lineup. So far this season, Maguire has managed four appearances in all competitions, though only two of those outings have lasted a full 90 minutes.
Despite the 30-year-old’s struggles at club level, he has been called up to the England squad for the upcoming clashes against Australia and Italy. While on international duty, Maguire was quizzed about how close the prospective West Ham move was to reaching completion.
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Maguire went on to reveal that the talks were not as advanced as many thought, which is why he is still on Man Utd’s books. He also pledged his future to the Red Devils, as long as he starts to play more often under Ten Hag.
“Regular game time is really important to me, it has been throughout my career,” he said (via Sports Mole). “The actual opportunity to go to West Ham wasn’t agreed really between both clubs and myself. So it wasn’t just my chance to say, ‘yes and I’m going’.
Transfer to West Ham ‘wasn’t agreed’, says Harry Maguire
“It wasn’t agreed between both clubs so the actual opportunity wasn’t there because we didn’t get far enough down the line with it.
“But West Ham is a massive club. But like I said my full focus is still on Manchester United, I want to fight for my place but of course regular game time is really important to me.”
It seems Maguire remains determined to get back to his best at Man Utd. But if Ten Hag continues to select the likes of Raphael Varane, Lisandro Martinez and Victor Lindelof ahead of him, then a 2024 move away from Man Utd could come into sight.
Maguire recently moved up the pecking order as a result of Martinez’s recurring foot injury, which has ruled him out until the new year. But Ten Hag still prefers to use Varane and Lindelof over Maguire as they are more mobile and better at playing out from the back.
