The centre-back is still attracting interest with just days left of the window
Manchester United are no longer willing to entertain selling Harry Maguire before the window closes and have rejected a fresh approach from West Ham, according to reports.
The 30-year-old has fallen dramatically down the pecking order at Old Trafford under Erik ten Hag and is effectively the fifth-choice option now, behind even left-back Luke Shaw.
United had been open to offloading their axed skipper and accepted a bid of £30million from the Hammers earlier this month, though the deal ultimately broke down.
Maguire – who is also wanted by Everton – was thought to be reluctant to move to east London and unwilling to give up Champions League football, while he would have had to take a significant pay cut.
David Moyes remains keen to sign the former Leicester City man, however, and West Ham tried to find a late solution by offering to contribute to a pay-off that would compensate for his lower salary.
United’s injury crisis at the back is good news for Maguire
United are currently trying to bring in a new, emergency left-back with both Luke Shaw and Tyrell Malacia sidelined until the backend of the year.
They have made contact with a host of clubs and have teed up deals for the likes of Marc Cucurella, Sergio Reguilon and Marcos Alonso and will now need to decide which player they want to pull the trigger on.
United are also poised to seal a £4.3m deal for goalkeeper Altay Bayindir once Dean Henderson has completed a move to Crystal Palace, while Ten Hag also wants to bring in a new midfielder.
With so much business still to do, United will not have time to bring in a high-level replacement for Maguire as well and have therefore decided to keep him.
The situation has been impacted by both the injury to Shaw and an issue Raphael Varane picked up in Saturday’s win over Nottingham Forest; the Frenchman’s issue is not thought to be too serious, but he had to be replaced by Victor Lindelof.
Assuming the Swede and Lisandro Martinez are United’s centre-back pairing in the short-term, that would leave Maguire as the only available cover and the player himself is eager to stay and fight for his place.
FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA AND SHARE WTX NEWS WITH YOUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY: Facebook – Please like our page Twitter – Twitter updates are available in English and Arabic. Please follow us and we would love to hear from you Instagram – Follow our pages in English and Arabic