Fabrizio Romano has dropped an update regarding Aston Villa’s reported transfer interest in Manchester United defender Harry Maguire.
Earlier this month, it was claimed by reporter Anil Kandola (via TEAMtalk), that the Englishman was close to securing a move to the Midlands club.
However, in a recent Twitter post, Romano had this to say on the matter:
“Reports of Harry Maguire deal ‘done’ with Aston Villa are now denied by all parties involved. No negotiations or talks ongoing. Maguire is expected to stay at Man United, the position is very clear.”
This season has seen the 29-year-old find himself in and out of the United team, whether that be down to injury issues or tactical reasons – leaving him with just four starts in seven Premier League appearances.
But the defender still managed to show how much of an important figure he is for England during the recent World Cup as he started all five of their games in Qatar.
His performances in the tournament earned him a solid rating of 7.35/10 from WhoScored, making him the third-highest-rated player in Gareth Southgate’s squad.
To highlight his defensive talent, Maguire ended the tournament with the highest average of clearances per game (3.6) for England.
Would you take Harry Maguire at Villa?
Yes
No
Bearing in mind how only four clubs in the league have made fewer clearances than Villa (308) this season, perhaps a figure like the £190k-per-week defender could be a useful signing for the club.
However, taking into account what Romano had to say, it appears that the centre-back is not on his way to Villa and not likely to be leaving Old Trafford this month.
Moving forward, should Maguire continue to find himself in and out of the team throughout the remainder of the season, Villa should definitely consider exploring the possibility of securing a deal for him in the summer to see if United’s stance will have changed by then.