Why Harry Maguire’s West Ham move collapsed
Robin Bairner
- 14 Sept 2023 13:19 BST
- 3 min read
Manchester United defender Harry Maguire was “very close” to signing for West Ham in the summer only for the deal to fall through.
Maguire is a player that Man Utd boss Erik ten Hag has clearly seen as surplus to requirements for an extended period after he was dropped to fifth-choice centre-back at Old Trafford last season, behind even left-back Luke Shaw.
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No deal was eventually done for the England defender, who remains firmly in the spotlight as he continues to be favoured by national team manager Gareth Southgate.
An own goal in a 3-1 friendly win over Scotland in midweek, however, has seen the centre-back’s stock fall to an all-time low as he struggles to win back his reputation.
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’Maguire very close to West Ham’
According to West Ham coach Kevin Nolan, though, Maguire was close to moving to David Moyes’ side in the summer. He also revealed why the move fell through.
“I think it was very close, I was a bit upset that we didn't make it,” he confessed to TalkSport.
“I think it was just in the end, the money didn't get sorted from what I can gather which is obviously upsetting from our behalf because we wanted to sign him. It was probably upsetting from Harry’s behalf and probably United’s as well.
“I think the gaffer was in contact with Harry, his agent and everything else but yeah, obviously we then had to move onto our next target.”
Maguire’s only outing for Man Utd this season came off the bench against Arsenal in a 3-1 defeat at the Emirates Stadium, while his prospects of getting significantly more game time are slim despite an injury to Lisandro Martinez that is believed to make him doubtful to feature against Brighton at the weekend.
