It is not uncommon for a transfer narrative to devolve into a full blown transfer saga, and blow way past the point of tedium. We’re certainly well beyond that point with the Harry Maguire situation, as it remains to be seen whether or not Manchester United and Leicester City can FINALLY reach an agreement and get this deal over the line between now and August 8.
Like we said, transfer sagas, whether the player moves or stays, grow tedious and protracted all the time. Eden Hazard and Philippe Coutinho are two classic recent examples. It’s also commonplace with United- see Arturo Vidal in 2014, David de Gea in 2015 and Paul Pogba this summer.
What has made the Harry Maguire transfer saga so unique, however, is that “agreement reached/deal being finalized” has already been declared not once, but twice.
And by that we mean several outlets saying done deal, not just one or two, on a couple occasions already. According to Leicester boss Brendan Rodgers, the two sides aren’t even close.
โThe club is in a great state of health because thereโs no pressure to sell any player,” Rodgers said after a preseason friendly victory over Cambridge last night.
โAnd if a player does leave Leicester City, the valuation will have to be met. We have a top level player, looked at by top level clubs.”
โI respect that because I understand why they would, but thereโs been no offer near to our valuation that would even make us have a look.”
โIf thereโs a valuation met that pleases the ownership, then thereโs a decision to be made for the player.โ
According to conventional wisdom, so to speak, United have had a ยฃ70 million bid for Maguire already rejected, with Leicester holding out for ยฃ80 million. That’s the prevalent current narrative, but given all the fake news that has been published about this situation already this summer, it’s difficult to simply accept that story as fact.
If United pay ยฃ80m, it would surpass the ยฃ75m Liverpool paid Virgil van Dijk and it would make the 26-year-old English international the most expensive defender of all time.
United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer preaches patience to the United supporter base in regards to the team’s transfer base.
“It will take time for any player to adjust to Man United,” said Solskjaer.
“Weโve got to be patient. Itโs a long haul and very important we get the right ones in. We canโt just jump on a different path if we hit a hurdle. Iโm not frustrated at all. โWhen weโre working on something itโs because weโve identified something that could improve us.”
That’s the right message to send right now, because the Harry Maguire silly season coverage could easily run all the way until deadline day.
Paul M. Banks runsย The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered withย News Now.ย Banks, the author ofย โNo,ย ย I Canโt Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,โ regularly appears onย WGN CLTVย and co-hosts theย โLetโs Get Weird, Sportsโ podcastย onย SB Nation.ย
You can follow Banks, a former writer forย NBC Chicago.com andย Chicago Tribune.comย onย Twitter hereย andย hisย cat on Instagram at this link.
