Manchester United contacted Leicester City to discuss a possible deal for Harry Maguire only to find out he favours a move to Manchester City.
The England international has long been mooted as a target for the Red Devils and Jose Mourinho tried to lure him to Old Trafford last year, but executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward vetoed the move – as per Metro Sport.
According to The Sun, the Foxes will demand around £60 million for a prized asset, who enjoyed another strong season at the King Power, racking up 31 Premier League appearances in total.
The Daily Mail reports that Man United have now learned that Maguire would prefer to join Man City this summer after making an initial enquiry over the defender’s availability.
The English champions are on the lookout for a replacement for Vincent Kompany, who is due to take over as player/manager at Belgian club Anderlecht.
Pep Guardiola is also expected to allow Nicolas Otamendi to leave the Etihad Stadium, which leaves City in need of another centre-half capable of plugging the gap left by the two outgoing stars.
As per The Mail, Maguire is top of their list and it would be a huge statement for the club if they beat their arch-rivals to his signature in the coming weeks.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer wants to bring the Leicester ace to the Theatre of Dreams, but the Red Devils cannot match their noisy neighbours in the market or on the pitch at the moment.
United finished sixth and 34 points behind City in the Premier League table last season – ultimately failing to qualify for the Champions League – which underlined the huge power shift which has taken place in Manchester in recent years.
Maguire has the quality to compete for a starting place at the Etihad and he is clearly up for the challenge as opposed to joining up with Solskjaer’s confidence-drained squad.
United shipped 54 league goals in the 2018-19 campaign and bringing in a new defensive leader is a must, but they will now need to look at alternative targets after being dealt another blow by City.
