Yeah but it all becomes a weird game, because some add-ons are not really achievable... or so. It's just BS. We are not structuring deals to issue bonds or whatever, this is football. Pay up, propose some kind of schedule if you have to, but don't drag deals like that, it's not normal.
Harry Maguire | Signed
- Thread starter davidmichael
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£80M record fee agreed?
This was apparently fake news
It may come from the Sun and could well be a load of crap but hope this story is true. Although not he is not my number 1 choice. I would take gladly take him. considering where we are now. Decent up front price. Would be very happy to pay those add-ons as it means hes been a success here.
nobody reliable has said anything about this for weeks, just bare that in mind with all these "news" tweets and articles
Where did it state that we've offered £70m plus £10m add-ons please?
Often the way though. Big build and a bid/rejection. And then pure silence before finally sorting it.
It was bound to happen eventually.
Let’s just hope he is as good as we hope!
Let’s just hope he is as good as we hope!
yes but there people with solid, reliable sources within Leicester that would know about any deal well before The Sun would, as I said yesterday the media keep saying Maguire has "now" told the club he wants to go, problem is they have run that same line for about a month, they need a continuity editor to help them keep their bullshit straight
80mil is not much these days. We turned over 630m last year and the wage bill is below 50% of turnover.(Not many clubs are below the 50% mark).
We could easily go out and spent 250mil on players.
If Ole thinks he is the right man for us we should get it done.
Think the part in bold in is something which may irritate a few fans, the fact that we could spend that much money but don't.
It’s the Sun so it’s bullshit right ? 
Look this move is clearly happening now so we might as well just accept it and hope it works out for the best. I'm not very happy with it (and honestly the price doesn't even bother me it's the actual quality of the player that's always been my issue). Maguire does have some qualities that we're lacking at cb.
The most obvious is he's good in the air which is Lindelof's biggest weakness and we really only have Smalling who's anyway good in this regard. I doubt this will lead to many more goals from set pieces because Maguire has never seemed to score as many headers as you would expect for someone who's as good in the air as he is, combined with the fact that we simply don't have anyone who can deliver a quality cross from a set piece. Pogba would be our best by a mile but since he's tall he is always put in the box. Mata is our next best but he's unlikely to be starting often. Young took the majority of our indirect free kicks and corners last season but he won't be starting most games this season (and his delivery wasn't the best anyway). I do think signing Fernandes could finally give us a decent option here so if we sign him maybe Maguire could offer more of a goal threat. However, Maguire's aerial prowess is most important in avoiding long balls over the top of our cbs which was an issue. Juxtaposed to this is that if a ball does go over Maguire's head he is very slow and would most likely lose a foot race with nearly any fast striker. Lindelof isn't the quickest either but AWB could potentially make up for this (in fact he's probably the best full back in the league at making up ground in these situations).
Another advantage is Maguire's ability to play the ball out from the back. Not only is Maguire a good passer but he also has a very good control for a cb and can therefore bring the ball forward quite easily to find new passing options. Lindelof is also very good at this but Maguire's physical strength arguably gives him an advantage over Lindelof who has on occasion (not very often tbf) been outmuscled and pushed off the ball. Having these 2 in defence is a big advantage over having any of Smalling, Jones, Rojo or Bailly there as all have very poor vision and tend to either play the most basic pass or kick the ball long aimlessly.
The Utd defence's biggest problem is its lack of a leader (indeed this is a problem throughout our entire team). Lindelof has no real command of the backline and hasn't shown any real ability to organise the defence (i.e. telling the other defenders where they should be at different times). While Lindelof individually performed far better than our other cbs last season (not a difficult thing to do) this is a big problem with him. I'm not convinced Maguire is very good at this either which was the biggest reason I was against the signing. VVD tells everyone in Liverpool's defence where they should be at any one time and Koulibaly does the same at Napoli which is why it doesn't seem to matter what cb is playing next to them, they automatically look very good. There aren't many cbs in the world that have the ability to this consistently so it's not necessarily a big knock on Maguire that I don't think he has this in him but it's a problem nonetheless. I really hope that he surprises me and shows that he has a voice and can command a defence. If he can do that the little mistakes he'll inevitably make won't bother me as much, but if he fails to do this we're just going to end up going back in for another cb next season which would be disastrous. Now that the deal seems all but certain I shall try to remain as positive as possible and give Maguire the benefit of the doubt for at least the first couple months.
The most obvious is he's good in the air which is Lindelof's biggest weakness and we really only have Smalling who's anyway good in this regard. I doubt this will lead to many more goals from set pieces because Maguire has never seemed to score as many headers as you would expect for someone who's as good in the air as he is, combined with the fact that we simply don't have anyone who can deliver a quality cross from a set piece. Pogba would be our best by a mile but since he's tall he is always put in the box. Mata is our next best but he's unlikely to be starting often. Young took the majority of our indirect free kicks and corners last season but he won't be starting most games this season (and his delivery wasn't the best anyway). I do think signing Fernandes could finally give us a decent option here so if we sign him maybe Maguire could offer more of a goal threat. However, Maguire's aerial prowess is most important in avoiding long balls over the top of our cbs which was an issue. Juxtaposed to this is that if a ball does go over Maguire's head he is very slow and would most likely lose a foot race with nearly any fast striker. Lindelof isn't the quickest either but AWB could potentially make up for this (in fact he's probably the best full back in the league at making up ground in these situations).
Another advantage is Maguire's ability to play the ball out from the back. Not only is Maguire a good passer but he also has a very good control for a cb and can therefore bring the ball forward quite easily to find new passing options. Lindelof is also very good at this but Maguire's physical strength arguably gives him an advantage over Lindelof who has on occasion (not very often tbf) been outmuscled and pushed off the ball. Having these 2 in defence is a big advantage over having any of Smalling, Jones, Rojo or Bailly there as all have very poor vision and tend to either play the most basic pass or kick the ball long aimlessly.
The Utd defence's biggest problem is its lack of a leader (indeed this is a problem throughout our entire team). Lindelof has no real command of the backline and hasn't shown any real ability to organise the defence (i.e. telling the other defenders where they should be at different times). While Lindelof individually performed far better than our other cbs last season (not a difficult thing to do) this is a big problem with him. I'm not convinced Maguire is very good at this either which was the biggest reason I was against the signing. VVD tells everyone in Liverpool's defence where they should be at any one time and Koulibaly does the same at Napoli which is why it doesn't seem to matter what cb is playing next to them, they automatically look very good. There aren't many cbs in the world that have the ability to this consistently so it's not necessarily a big knock on Maguire that I don't think he has this in him but it's a problem nonetheless. I really hope that he surprises me and shows that he has a voice and can command a defence. If he can do that the little mistakes he'll inevitably make won't bother me as much, but if he fails to do this we're just going to end up going back in for another cb next season which would be disastrous. Now that the deal seems all but certain I shall try to remain as positive as possible and give Maguire the benefit of the doubt for at least the first couple months.
You sound a bit bitter mate. Even at united we've had players want to move. It happens.
It moves on. Dunk might perform better, while Maguire crashes. Nothing is certain.
Not my first choice of centre back but definitely an improvement to most of our current CB’s
A couple of different outlets reporting it.
Who are reporting this?
All come back to the same source, The Sun.
not at all, in fact I have expected Maguire to leave this summer for over a year, just far too much bullshit people are running with when the people that are actually in the know are staying silent
others will pick it up and say as reported in the sun, in an easy click bait target hitting article, this is the point I'm, making, I'm sure you know which people are reliable when it comes to United news as I do Leicester, trust them and don't fall for the click bait
Do keep up. Already posted bottom of prev page.
Is he really flying to Manchester though.
From Leicester?!
He’s in France at preseason training. Time to track planes.
Good signing if true, but I can’t help but think we could’ve got better - especially for the money - if we weren’t so hell bent on singing British.
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Sorry did not see it. He is in France with his team I guess.
Looks like this one is happening. Decent player and not sure he has or will justify the fee, but I hope that it works of course. If we are doing this then let's get this done and dusted ASAP so he can join the tour and bed him in before the start of the season.
If this does happen I'd love to know Jose's reaction after being refused him last summer.
If this does happen I'd love to know Jose's reaction after being refused him last summer.
We cant be that stupid. If true ofcofc
60 m is acceptable.
Nah, not for me at least.
Just get it done. I like this player and he will improve us big time.
£60m would be more fair price but it's a crazy market and at the moment and we have to pay what the selling club demands.
Whatever. Just get it done and move onto the midfielders and Lukakus replacement. Good signing in my opinion.
I’m willing to bet the £80m figure is made of performance bonus criteria over the duration of the initial contract. If he wins us trophies then yeah he’ll be seen as worth it.
I’m willing to bet the £80m figure is made of performance bonus criteria over the duration of the initial contract. If he wins us trophies then yeah he’ll be seen as worth it.
Let's not underestimate the serious lack of leadership in this squad right now. Maguire is a step, an expensive step but a big step nonetheless.
We will not be able to shift the below average players until we have a solid spine in this team.
Also, to the posters saying that Maguire is on par with Smalling. Why is there no club in the world interested in Smalling and if United were willing to sell what price would be set?
We will not be able to shift the below average players until we have a solid spine in this team.
Also, to the posters saying that Maguire is on par with Smalling. Why is there no club in the world interested in Smalling and if United were willing to sell what price would be set?
I've watched him quite a bit for England and leicester and I still can't work out how good he is.
We will see.
We will see.
Nothing reliable.
The way I see it with Maguire is we get a CB who stays fit, who offers Smalling level aerial and physical dominance while offering similar to maybe better playing out of the back compared to Lindelof. Slower, sure, but plenty of qualities in his locker and ways to overcome a lack of pace especially at CB. So it's kind of like a combination of the best qualities of all of our CBs while staying fit regularly, minus pace. Would be a huge improvement overall having that IMO. Obviously overpriced, but at this point, feck it, better spending that on a 26 year old English CB than keeping it with the glazers.
If he has a solid season and we get 4th with a cup final that would be enough to justify half the fee. Why do people think that a player cant step up when they join a club with the gravitas of United? Harry Maguire has everything needed to lead this team.
Excellent move, with him and Bissaka we have an amazing defence set.
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@utdreport: The latest #mufc offer made for Harry Maguire (£60m + £20m), has been agreed with Leicester #mulive [@transferpodcast, @garbosj, @DuncanCastles]
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