Man Utd face serious fight to prise Harry Maguire from Leicester

Manchester United have approached Leicester City over Harry Maguire but face a serious fight to prise the England centre-half away from the King Power Stadium.

Jose Mourinho is determined to make Maguire his fourth signing of the summer after midfielder Fred, right back Diogo Dalot and goalkeeper Lee Grant and has told the club’s executive vice-chairman, Ed Woodward, he wants a deal completed before the close of the transfer window on August 9.

But Leicester are thought to be reluctant to sell Maguire and are still hoping to persuade the 25-year-old to sign a lucrative new contract.

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The 2016 Premier League champions are loathe to lose another big player following Riyad Mahrez’s £60 million move to Manchester City just over a fortnight ago and are not under any financial pressure to sell the defender, whom they consider central to next season’s plans.

Maguire’s stock is also at an all-time high after his impressive showings for England at the World Cup finals in Russia this summer and it means United may have to offer at least £70 million to stand any chance of prising the centre-half from Leicester, an eye-watering sum for a player who cost the Midlands club £17 million from Hull City last summer.

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Maguire, who has four years left on his existing deal with Leicester, is understood to be intrigued by the prospect of a move to Old Trafford but he is known to be happy at Leicester and is not expected to agitate for a move in the way Mahrez did.

United are thought to be willing to pay around £60 million with add ons for Maguire after Mourinho prioritised the signing of another centre-half, although the Portuguese is under pressure to offload one of the five central defenders already on the club’s books.

Victor Lindelof and Eric Bailly, two Mourinho recruits, are expected to stay for now but the futures of Chris Smalling, Phil Jones and Marcos Rojo are unclear.

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Rojo only signed a new contract in March that ties him to Old Trafford until June 2021, with the option of another year, and is said to be in no rush to leave. Smalling and Jones are out of contract next summer but United have the option of extending their deals by a further 12 months. Smalling insisted this week that he has no intention of leaving.

Mourinho also wants to sign a winger, with Croatia’s Ivan Perisic reported to be back in his sights, as uncertainty grows over the future of wantaway France forward Anthony Martial. The United manager would ideally like to buy a left-back, too – Juventus’s Alex Sandro was a target - but he has been told the club cannot continue to stockpile defenders.