Is Leicester preparing for Harry Maguire’s exit?

According to the Metro, Leicester City are set to spend £33Million on Freiburg centre-back Caglar Soyuncu and Dynamo Zagreb defender Filip Benkovic. The late deal could pave the way for reported-Manchester United target Harry Maguire to join the Red Devils.

Turkish international centre-back Soyuncu is highly-rated and had previously been linked with a big money move to Arsenal. Benkovic has made five appearances for his national team, scoring twice.

Maguire has impressed in recent seasons

It seems if Leicester are signing two new centre-backs they are preparing for life without England international Maguire. The 25-year-old has impressed in both his previous campaigns in the Premier League with firstly Hull and then Leicester of course.

However, it was the giant defenders assured displays at the World Cup with England that has raised his profile in the game. The centre-back was actually linked with United’s city rivals Manchester City last summer.

City fans and neutrals alike seem to doubt that the centre-back was good enough to make the step up to playing for a high-profile club. However, his recent performances for club and country suggest that he would have no problem playing for a team in the Champions League or challenging at the top of the Premier League table.

Manchester United frustrated in their centre-back search

Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho seems to have made signing a new centre-back his priority this summer. The Red Devils have been linked with a number of players including Barcelona’s Yerry Mina, Tottenham’s Toby Alderweireld and Bayern Munich’s Jerome Boateng.

Media reports suggest that United are not prepared to pay Spurs asking price of £65million for Alderweireld, while some reports claim that Boateng has turned down a move to Manchester. There is also speculation that United have given up on signing Mina, as his agent is demanding too much of a fee.

Reportedly, though, Maguire has been the Red Devils number one centre-back target for a while. However, the Foxes did not want to sell their star player. The fact they have brought in two centre-backs this summer would suggest their stance is starting to weaken. The interest in Maguire is understandable, as the England international is a solid defender, who brings the ball out of defence. He seems like the perfect signing for the Red Devils.

I am sure Maguire could forge a very strong central defensive partnership with Ivorian international Eric Bailly at Old Trafford.

Time is running out for United to sign Maguire

The summer transfer window shuts on Thursday at 5 PM, so time is running out for United to sign the centre-back. It seems the bookmakers do not seem to believe it is out of the realms of possibility that the centre-back will be a United player by the close of the transfer window, as Maguire is 2/1 to be a United player when the deadline passes.

One sticking point to any deal is that United do not want to meet the Foxes £75million valuation of the player. Whether the Red Devils stance changes over the next 24 hours will decide if Maguire makes the big-money move.

I have a feeling that this story could run to the wire, as it could really go either way. If the deal goes through it will no doubt be one of the biggest of transfer deadline day.

Will Harry Maguire be a United player by the close of the summer transfer window?