Maguire has outlived his usefulness at Manchester United and was recently relieved of his captaincy due to his decline in the hierarchy. Finding a new club for the summer would seem to be in his best interests. But so far, a number of things have stood in the way.
Man Utd must first acknowledge that when they sell the defender, they will suffer a loss. Realizing this, they reportedly established an asking price of around £35 million.
Maguire would have to accept a smaller income than he does at Manchester United, even if one of his pursuers pays enough. He has a means of getting around that, too, according to Football Insider, which might delay his leave even more.
According to the report, before leaving Man Utd, Maguire would demand that his remaining contract be paid in full. He would demand £20 million because his contract has two years left and he makes £10 million annually.
It is unknown whether Man Utd will grant his request. He would gladly watch from the sidelines till his deal expired if they did not.
Staying at Old Trafford would not be prudent for Maguire from a purely sporting standpoint, since Lisandro Martinez and Raphael Varane are both preferred at center-back, where Man Utd is looking to invest in another new signing.
While keeping an eye on Harry Maguire, West Ham
In that regard, his best option might be to sign with West Ham, whose interest in signing him to a loan-to-buy deal has apparently been confirmed by Football Insider.
However, they wouldn’t want to keep him on a £190,000-per-week contract, so Maguire would have to give that up.
It would make him more willing to accept a lower wage somewhere if he can persuade Manchester United to pay out the remaining balance of his contract.
Even while the transactions would be recorded separately on the books, paying Maguire £20 million so they can accept a £35 million fee for him would effectively give Man Utd just £15 million in proceeds from his sale.
Maguire’s career may come to a standstill until the issue is resolved. And that is something that needs to be rectified in some fashion before a season that will come before an international tournament with England.