Harry Maguire has emerged as a top target for West Ham after being stripped of the Manchester United captaincy, with David Moyes now launching a fresh bid for the defender
West Ham have increased their bid for Manchester United captain Harry Maguire and midfielder Scot McTominay to £60 million.
And Hammers manager David Moyes is finally ready to make his first summer acquisition after finalising a £34 million agreement with Ajax for Mexican midfielder Edson Alvarez. Moyes has been at odds with new technical director Tim Steidten over the nature of transfer objectives.
West Ham had been the only Premier League club without a new signing this transfer window – until now. Moyes is now ready to play his hand, with £105 million in the Irons’ coffers from the sale of Declan Rice to Arsenal and £30 million flop Gianluca Scamacca returning to Italy by joining Atalanta.
And he wants at least two new faces in the building before Saturday’s big kick-off at Bournemouth. The urgency behind Moyes’ recruitment drive was increased by a dismal 4-0 rout against Bayer Leverkusen in their final pre-season friendly in Germany at the weekend.
England defender Maguire, 30, faces being frozen out of the first team picture at Old Trafford and United rejected West Ham’s initial £20m opening bid last month.
The two clubs are back in contact, and the Hammers are believed to be close to United’s asking price – but Maguire’s £180,000-a-week wages will test the East enders’ resolve to land their target.
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West Ham have made a bid for both Harry Maguire and Scott McTominay
Moyes is also keen on Maguire’s team-mate Scott McTominay, 26, and with United increasingly confident of landing Sofyan Amrabat from Fiorentina, the Hammers are hopeful of landing both Red Devils on their hit-list.
West Ham have also led the chase for Southampton’s £30m-rated England international James Ward-Prowse as Moyes – who lifted his first trophy when the Hammers won the Europa Conference League in June – insisted on bringing in proven Premier League quality.
With Saints driving a hard bargain for Ward-Prowse, West Ham walked away from talks last week and moved to strike a deal with Ajax for Alvarez. But Moyes is expected to launch a fresh bid for Southampton’s set-piece specialist with Tottenham threatening to hijack the move.
Moyes has been pushing for Maguire for much of the summer, with the England international having no future at Old Trafford. He has refused to discuss a potential move though, including when the defender was stripped of the United captaincy.
“Well, I couldn’t tell you anything because I think talking about players from other clubs who are under contracts, that’s not the right thing to do, so I’d never do that,” Moyes said of Maguire last month.
“I’ve got no idea what their reasons are at Manchester United, for what they’ve done [taking the captaincy off Maguire] so I couldn’t talk about them… I’m sorry.”
