Harry Maguire has been stripped of the captaincy at Manchester United and this is perhaps the biggest sign that the England international is about to be dumped.
The ex-Leicester defender joined Man United for some serious money but the central defender has turned out to be one of the big flops in the post-Ferguson era. He had fallen down the pecking order last season but Ten Hag still decided to keep him the captain of the squad. However, as the United players regather for pre-season training, Harry Maguire has made it public that he will be stepping off the captaincy duties.
He has said in an official statement on Twitter(h/t EPL official site): “After discussions with the manager today he has informed me he is changing captain. He outlined his reasons to me and whilst I’m personally extremely disappointed, I will continue to give my all every time I wear the shirt.
“So I wanted to say a massive thank you to the Manchester United fans for all their brilliant support whilst I’ve been wearing the armband.”
The new captain will be announced in the coming weeks by the Manchester United manager but it’s very evident that Erik ten Hag wants to get rid of Harry Maguire.
Where is Harry Maguire going next?
Manchester United are ready to sell the centre-back for around £40 million and right now, three clubs want to bring him on board.
Spurs, Newcastle United and West Ham United are the three sides who are interested in signing the 30-year-old and now that he’s no longer the captain, these three teams will surely jump in to sign the defender.
Newcastle United will be the favourites on paper because they played some eye-catching football last season under Eddie Howe plus they will be playing in the Champions League next campaign. However, West Ham United are the ones who have the finances to pull this deal through because they have just sold Declan Rice to Arsenal for £105 million.
Tottenham are perhaps the lowest down the pecking order because they were a complete mess last campaign plus they have just brought in a new manager who’s fairly inexperienced in terms of European football.
Harry Maguire earns £200,000 a week so he will have to take a massive pay cut if he wishes to play for a new club but we don’t think money won’t bother him too much. Varane and Martinez are the first-choice centre-backs for Man United and Ten Hag has Lindelof as backup so if Maguire decides to remain at Old Trafford, all he will do is warm the benches.
The Hammers won’t mind paying £40 or even £50 million for the defender but he’s a regular for the England national team and someone like him needs to play for and against the big boys of Europe. For Newcastle, it is a big thing to play in the top tier of Europe and someone like Harry Maguire belongs in the Champions League so this could be a perfect match.
A few seasons ago and we could have safely predicted that Maguire will want to join Tottenham but things are different now and the centre-back will not want to play for a team that finished eighth on the table last time around and suffered 14 league defeats.
It’s very evident that the Man United manager wants to sell Harry Maguire and after the captaincy decision, the next logical step will be to out the defender out for sale and agree terms with a potential suitor.
