Harry Maguire has given an apocalyptic forecast for Manchester United’s summer, insisting ‘a lot of players’ will be cast into the abyss.
The Old Trafford stalwart says he ‘hopes’ lots of fresh faces join in an admission that Ruben Amorim’s squad needs to be gutted and reformed.
United are entering the transfer window after their worst season in the Premier League era and have already been embarrassed on their tour of Asia.
Maguire started as they were slain 1-0 in Malaysia by ASEAN All-Stars, a team assembled with players from across various Asian countries and leagues.
United have also visited Mumbai, where Maguire played street football with children, and on Friday will try to salvage their trip against the Hong Kong national team.
‘We will make a lot of changes in the summer at the club,’ Maguire promised.
‘There will be a lot of players who leave and hopefully a lot of players will come in.
‘And that’s down to the club to make sure they get that right and it’s down to us players to make sure that we are the ones that are involved.’
Maguire is right that nobody is safe – even talisman Bruno Fernandes could exit as a stash of Saudi Arabian riyals are jangled in his face.
His agent held face-to-face talks with Al-Hilal chiefs on Thursday night and the Saudi club are willing to give him a package worth around £200million aacross three seasons including bonuses.
They are prepared to effectively quadruple Fernandes’ salary of £280,000-a-week by increasing it to £700,000 tax-free.
This meeting at the Four Seasons Hotel was an intriguing twist given that Al-Hilal gave Fernandes 72 hours to decide his future on Monday.
If he agrees, the club are ready to issue the paperwork on a contract worth around £65m-a-season and make a formal approach to United with a bid in the region of £100m.
United sources have re-iterated that they do not want to sell their best player, but the club are under even greater financial pressure after defeat to Tottenham in the Europa League final cost them potentially more than £100m in Champions League revenue.
Fernandes admitted after the game that he could be sold to balance the books, saying: ‘If the club thinks it’s time to part ways because they want to do some cashing in, it is what it is.’
More to follow.
