Leicester City Opinion: Foxes would dodge a big bullet by turning down United’s requested player-plus-cash deal involving Harry Maguire
According to The Express, Man United have adopted a creative approach to tempt Leicester City into selling England international Harry Maguire this summer, with reports claiming that the Red Devils are prepared to settle for a player-plus-cash deal in order to bring the 26-year-old to Old Trafford.
Leicester City have quoted a price tag of £80 million to part ways with their prized asset, and United getting a deal over the line to bring Maguire to the club would eclipse the £75 million that Liverpool paid to Southampton for Virgil van Dijk one-and-a-half years back.
However, the Red Devils are seemingly struggling to stump up that kind of cash without the lure of Champions League football next season and they are prepared to offer the likes of Eric Bailly and Marcos Rojo as makeweights in the deal to cope with Leicester’s asking price for Maguire.
In other words, Man United are looking to move the likes of Bailly and Rojo on in order to make way for the 26-year-old stalwart, whilst the duo’s inclusion is likely to significantly lower the amount of cash that United would need to pay.
Both Rojo and Bailly have already been deemed surplus to demands by United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and it is not a surprise to see that the Red Devils are prepared to let them leave as a part of a deal to bring Maguire into the club.
United’s backline moaned and groaned over the course of this past season and, in the end a 6th-place finish in the Premier League was all that the Red Devils could manage, with the club conceding as many as 54 goals, almost twice the number (28) that they had shipped over the course of the 2017-18 campaign.
Solskjaer tried his best to find a settled centre-back pairing, and despite rotating the likes of Bailly, Smalling, Rojo and Jones alongside Lindelof, the Norwegian could do little to cope with the lacklustre performances of his defenders.
Bailly, a £30 million signing from Villarreal in the summer of 2016 and Rojo, who was brought in by Louis van Gaal from Sporting for £16 million back in 2014, were more or less peripheral figures in United’s first-team last season.
While United have every reason to look at possible ways of getting them off their books, Leicester City would commit a massive blunder by bringing in the duo this summer as replacements for Harry Maguire.
To put things into perspective, both Rojo and Bailly have proven themselves to be impetuous defenders with poor injury records and the Foxes accepting a player-plus-cash deal involving the duo would make little sense.
Leicester’s valuation of Maguire might look at bit outrageous but the Foxes are well within their rights to play hardball and demand such a fee for the 26-year-old, given that he is the best in England and still very much in his prime.
Leicester, under Brendan Rodgers, are expected to aim for big things, possibly a return to Europe, and should the Foxes choose to sell Maguire, they would need to bring in a world-class replacement to fill in his boots. Rojo and Bailly hardly fall in that category.
While both are not really sub-standard players, Leicester cannot afford to put a lot of trust in them, given their rash and reckless nature and poor injury record. And had they been really solid and trustworthy, United wouldn’t be so desperate to sign Maguire this summer.
On the other hand, Maguire is a big solid centre-half blessed with all the necessary attributes to stamp his authority in the Premier League, and if Leicester are really looking to cash in on him, they might as well opt for an out-and-out cash deal.
The quoted price would be enough for them to not only bring in a like-for-like replacement for their star man but also invest to improve other areas of their squad, which in turn, would help them challenge for a European spot next season.
The likes of Jonny Evans and Wes Morgan are well past 30 and they aren’t going to continue for much longer, while youngsters Caglar Soyuncu and Filip Benkovic are yet to show that they could possibly take over the reins from Maguire.
Hats off to United’s creative approach, but the Foxes should look to get the maximum value from Maguire’s sale this summer.
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That said, Leicester City should not be drawn into the idea of accepting a player-plus-cash deal for Maguire involving the likes of Rojo and Bailly.
Taking into account what the duo has shown at Old Trafford in recent years, it should be an absolute no-go transfer move for the Foxes.
