Man Utd legend urges Chelsea to move for surplus Red Devils star to plug ‘gap’ at Stamford Bridge
Chelsea have been urged to “take a chance” on Manchester United star Harry Maguire, who can plug a “gap” in Enzo Maresca’s squad ahead of the new season.
The Blues spent over £1bn in the first two seasons under Todd Boehly and Clearlake’s ownership but have been rather more circumspect in the current window as they look to comply with the Premier League’s profit and sustainability rules.
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, Omari Kellyman, Renato Veiga, Marc Guiu and Caleb Wiley have all arrived but for a modest combined fee of £75m, while they’re also said to be in talks with Villarreal goalkeeper Filip Jorgensen and remain in the market for a new striker.
They’re relatively well stocked at centre-back but Dwight Yorke reckons they could do with a replacement for Thiago Silva – who left tat the end of last season – despite new manager Enzo Maresca having Axel Disasi, Benoit Badiashile, Levi Colwill, Wesley Fofana and new signing Tosin Adarabioyo to call upon, with Trevoh Chalobah set to leave the club having not been included in their touring parting of the United States this summer.
Yorke believes Maguire would be an excellent choice for Chelsea, despite being adamant that United need to be “ruthless” and send him packing this summer.
Leny Yoro has joined the Red Devils from Lille for £52m already this summer, while they also remain interested in signing Matthijs de Ligt from Bayern Munich to further add to their centre-back options, pushing Maguire – who came close to leaving for West Ham before the start of last season – further down the pecking order.
“Harry Maguire could sit out the last year of his contract and know he’s going to play at some point due to injuries, but United really need to be ruthless and get rid of him,” Yorke told BoyleSports.
“They have Lisandro Martinez, Victor Lindelof and Leny Yoro, but Harry Maguire is in the position that he doesn’t have to go anywhere if he doesn’t want to.
“The opportunity had passed to get rid of him because he so desperately wanted to be at Euro 2024 and he would have done anything to play. That was the time to move him so he could get regular football.
“So that opportunity passed and he’s still there. I think we need to freshen things up at United and bring new faces in and take the future of the football club forward rather than backwards.
“Having said that, Maguire has shown that he is very capable of playing at the highest level still and elite clubs like Chelsea, who are trying to rebuild, might take a chance on Maguire.
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“He can clearly still play at the level and a fresh start might just give him that injection to really perform again for another year or two at that top level. So you never know.
“I played until I was 36 so I’m never going to write someone off if they’re still in their early 30s. He’s still got the attributes to do that.
“I think players do improve if the team is doing well and winning football matches, football becomes very easy to play. Football is only difficult when things are not going particularly well and then you realise who is really good and who isn’t.
“With Thiago Silva leaving Chelsea, there’s a gap there for an experienced player like Maguire to move into.”
