Wolverhampton Wanderers are in the quest to replenish their side after making almost £80m worth of sales so far this transfer window.
Julen Lopetegui will be eager to put his spin on the squad he inherited last term from Bruno Lage, however the Spaniard could face his first howler with links to a Premier League underperformer arising.
Manchester United captain Harry Maguire has been linked with a move to Molineux, however the Midlands club should avoid taking the risk on a potentially expensive move.
How much is Harry Maguire worth?
Valued at €23.5m (£20m) by FootballTransfers, the Englishman’s value has crashed following a sequence of underwhelming individual campaigns.
A report this week from GIVEMESPORT claimed that United hope to sell the defender for a speculated fee of £35m this summer.
Transfer insider Dean Jones raised Wolves as a potential suitor for Maguire in his GIVEMESPORT column saying:
'… The only other Premier League clubs on the lookout for a new centre back – that could seem viable in any shape or form – this summer include Wolves, Fulham and, at a stretch, his old club Sheffield United.'
Should Wolves sign Harry Maguire?
After a trialling 2022/23 season, the Old Gold relied on Lopetegui to turn fortunes around to keep the club in the Premier League, after sitting bottom of the table on Christmas Day.
In his first full term in the Midlands, the Spaniard will aim to get the side back among the top ten, with a raise in defensive and offensive structure required over the break in play.
With the objectives clear, it would be a questionable move for Wolves to go for Maguire, who at the age of 30, has seen a disappointing decline in form attributable to a knock in confidence.
The once famed Leicester City ace – and the world's most expensive defender – started just eight Premier League games last term for United, being identified as a weak spot in the club’s back line.
Slammed by Red Devils legend Roy Keane earlier this season for having “not been good enough”, the Englishman faces an almost impossible battle in reclaiming his spot as the club’s favoured central defender, leaving him facing a potential exile.
United’s trash should not be regarded as a project for Wolves to polish and use in the bid to improve, with other central defensive options available, Lopetegui could show the club’s ambition by avoiding a move for the £190k-per-week dud.
A report from Planet Football highlighted just how detrimental the 30-year-old has been to the Manchester giants’ form, with their record both with and without him being captured between the 2021/22 campaign to January 2023.
In that time frame, the Red Devils played 42 games with Maguire, losing 14 and conceding 62 goals with a loss rate of 33.3%, however without the Englishman in the side, the loss rate decreased to 18.2%, conceding 33 goals and losing just six in 33 games.
In a season that must show progression, adding a defender famed for his frailties should not be for consideration, with the room for defensive error being considerably low in the top tier.
