Ed Woodward Ready to Meet £80m Asking Price to Complete Man Utds Second Summer Signing

Manchester United chief executive Ed Woodward is ready to meet Leicester's £80m evaluation of centre back Harry Maguire, to complete the club's second transfer of the summer, following on from the £15m capture of Daniel James.

United have been competing for Maguire's signature with local rivals Manchester City, but Woodward's desperation to sign the England international has propelled them to frontrunners.

Harry Maguire,Jesse Lingard

According to the Sun, the executive is now willing to match Leicester's £80m asking price, which would surpass the world record fee (for a defender) Liverpool paid Southampton for Virgil van Dijk in January 2018 by £5m.

Ideally, the Red Devils could reach this valuation by including Eric Bailly and/or Marcos Rojo in the deal, though it is not yet known whether Brendan Rodgers is amenable to such an arrangement.

And the big spending wouldn't stop there, with Woodward also readying a £350,000-a-week contract for the 26-year-old centre half.

However, it's not just pay cheques that make the club believe they can land the defender, with assistant coach Mike Phelan's relationship with the player a major plus.

Phelan worked with Maguire at Hull, as both assistant and manager, during the period when he was breaking into the side. It is understood the pair have maintained a good relationship in the intervening years, a factor United hope can push him to make the switch to Old Trafford.

Despite the many rumours surrounding his future, for his part, Maguire is yet to officially ask the Foxes for a move, and is reticent to do so considering the chance the club took on him back in 2017 when they bought him for £17m.


Source : 90min