Harry Maguire tipped to make Chelsea transfer and end his Man Utd misery

Manchester United defender Harry Maguire has been encouraged to make a surprise move to join Premier League rivals Chelsea this summer. The England international could be left out of Erik ten Hag’s starting team following the arrival of £58million sensation Leny Yoro.

Instead of spending the rest of the season playing back-up to Yoro and Lisandro Martinez, the Red Devils star, 31, has been advised to explore a potential switch to Chelsea, who were heavily linked with the centre-back back in January.

United icon Dwight Yorke, speaking to BoyleSports who offer the latest Premier League Betting, thinks Maguire could be an ideal replacement for Thiago Silva after the veteran left Chelsea on a free transfer this summer.

“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 said.

“They have Lisandro Martinez, Victor Lindelof and maybe 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.”

Maguire was forced to miss Euro 2024 with a calf injury and has been training hard in pre-season to impress Ten Hag at Carrington.

But for the first time in his five-year career at Old Trafford, Maguire will start the season with no guarantees from the Dutchman that he has a chance of starting games.

Maguire made 22 appearances in the Premier League last season, although his return to the first team largely coincided with United being hit by an unprecedented defensive injury crisis.

In addition to signing Yoro, Ten Hag is also able to count on Martinez, Jonny Evans and Victor Lindelof as alternative centre-back options.

With that in mind, he may view Maguire as the most sellable asset and the club would be looking to attract a sizeable fee following his world-record £80million transfer from Leicester City in 2019.

There is nothing concrete yet to suggest Chelsea would return for Maguire after previously seeing a bid turned down in January 2023. But Yorke thinks he could play well into his 30s and be a useful squad member for the west London club.

“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.”

Yorke was speaking to BoyleSports, who offer the latest Premier League Betting