Manchester United’s transfer move for Bayern Munich defender Benjamin Pavard may now be more complicated as Harry Maguire’s moved to West Ham has fallen through.
This is according to Fabrizio Romano in the latest edition of his exclusive CaughtOffside column, with the reporter explaining that Maguire failed to agree terms on a move to West Ham.
Romano has now made it clear that if Maguire doesn’t leave, there probably won’t be enough money for Man Utd to make a signing in defence, even though Pavard is seemingly keen on leaving Bayern for a move to Old Trafford.
The France international is a versatile, experienced player, and would surely be a major upgrade on Maguire, whose time at United has mostly been a big disappointment.
“It’s going to be an important week for Manchester United, and at the moment the Harry Maguire deal with West Ham is off – it’s collapsed,” Romano said.
“Let’s see if the story can change, or if other clubs can jump on this deal, but at the moment with West Ham it’s collapsed. There has been no agreement between Man United and Maguire on the pay-off, and no agreement between Maguire and West Ham on the salary, so now after days and days of waiting, there’s a chance Maguire will stay at Old Trafford as an important rotation player.
“Let’s see now how this affects Benjamin Pavard. He told Bayern he won’t sign a new contract and he wants to join United, but it was linked to Maguire’s future as well. If Maguire stays, it’s difficult to see Man United going and spending big money on a new centre-back. That’s the feeling at the club today, also because Erik ten Hag really appreciates Victor Lindelof.”
Romano added that it remains to be seen who West Ham could go for as an alternative to Maguire, with the east Londoners already missing out on one target as Merih Demiral is heading to Saudi Arabia.
He said: “In the end, there were two problems: Maguire’s pay-off not agreed with Man United and also his potential contract at West Ham, not discussed in details but complicated in principle. West Ham have now decided to look at different options – one player they asked for recently was Merih Demiral, but the player will join Al Ahli, it’s 100% done, so there will be new options to consider.”