Man Utd hopes pinned on Harry Maguire for Premier League title challenge

As Erik ten Hag attempts to stretch his relatively thin transfer budget to sign Mason Mount, a goalkeeper (perhaps Andre Onana) and a striker, Manchester United’s hopes of a title challenge may rest on a man deemed by many of their fans to have held them back: Mr Harry Maguire.
Man Utd appear to have given up hope of the proposed takeover having a material effect on the summer transfer window, and a Financial Fair Play cap as a result of the club’s ‘historic spending’ would have always limited Sir Jim Ratcliffe or Sheikh Jassim’s outlay despite a promise to loosen the Glazer-tied purse strings anyway.
Reports suggest Ten Hag has between £100m and £120m to spend on improving his squad, with any additional funds to be raised through player sales. Quite simply, that’s not enough.
You get that sense from their haggling over Mason Mount. Their opening offer of £40m was never going to be enough for a player Chelsea valued at £70m, and United have since come in at £50m then £50m plus add-ons before threatening to walk away from the deal after Chelsea’s counter-offer worth £67m. Spending that much on Mount would mean United would have almost nothing to spend on either a goalkeeper or striker.
They’re set for direct talks with Chelsea later this week, as they are with Inter Milan over a move for Andre Onana, who’s valued by the Serie A club at £43m. Assuming they manage to get those deals done on favourable terms the most United can hope to have left over to spend on a striker is £20m. Again, that’s not enough.
United will need at least £60m to land either Randal Kolo Muani or Rasmus Hojlund, with other targets like Victor Osimhen quite clearly beyond their means. They therefore require an extra £40m to prevent Anthony Martial leading the line next season, which also happens to be Harry Maguire’s asking price.
But it’s not just that neat bit of accounting that points to United’s hopes of a title push resting on Maguire’s broad shoulders. He’s also their most saleable asset – somebody really should pay £40m for England’s starting centre-back – and United may not need to sign a direct replacement should he be sold, with Luke Shaw proving himself more than able to play as a centre-back last season.
You could make those same arguments for Jadon Sancho, who has reportedly been made available for £45m – an attractive price tag for Tottenham, Aston Villa or other interested clubs – and the emergence of Alejandro Garnacho means Sancho’s exit perhaps wouldn’t require United to sign a like-for-like replacement.
But as Fabrizio Romano reports, Ten Hag still believes Sancho has ‘great potential’ and there was some evidence last season that the 23-year-old could rediscover his Borussia Dortmund form at Old Trafford. United would be reticent to see Sancho go but have opened the door for Maguire.
Despite reported interest from Tottenham and some touting to Serie A clubs by his representatives, Maguire has given no indication that he wants to leave Man Utd. Gareth Southgate could do the Red Devils a favour in that regard by leaving him out of an England squad, but with his international future secure, Maguire appears to be perfectly happy with a bit-part role for his club.
It’s claimed the club captain won’t be forced out, but more than a current gentle push may be required to enable Ten Hag to take United to the next level.