Maguire feels it will be ‘silly’ to leave Man Utd now

MANCHESTER: Harry Maguire believes it would be “silly” to leave Manchester United right now after revealing manager Ruben Amorim has stalled any summer transfer window moves for the defender.

The 32-year-old centre-back arrived at Old Trafford from Leicester in an £80 million ($108 million) deal in 2019, signing a six-year contract with an option for a further season.

United triggered that clause at the turn of the year and have since made clear they want to hold onto the England international this season, with Maguire yet to speak to the club about his future beyond this campaign.

“Last year was the clause in their hands so there was no option for me there,” Maguire said Thursday. “There was no talking. It was just they activated it and it got extended.

“This year, obviously I’m up at the end of the year. I’m pretty sure the club have made it aware this summer that I can’t leave the club on any terms with other clubs enquiring about my things and my position with my contract.”

Maguire added: “I’m sure over the next few months they’ll sit down, and we’ll have to have a conversation about where we want to go and if they want to extend or obviously the transfer window will open again in January.

Cristiano Ronaldo sets up Felix as Al-Nassr edges past Al-Ittihad

“Obviously I have something in my mind about what I want to do and what I want to be.

“I don’t want to put it out there to everybody but it’s an amazing club to play for and you’d be silly if you wanted to jump out of it as soon as you could.”

‘In a good place’

United finished a lowly 15th in the Premier League last season after Amorim replaced the sacked Erik ten Hag, but Maguire believes the club are on the rise.

“We’re in a good place, positive as a club and I feel like the hierarchy has come in and Jason (Wilcox, director of football) and the manager, I feel like they’re taking it in the right direction,” Maguire said.

“I think it’s, since I started six years ago to where it is now, in a completely different place in terms of the structure behind the management staff.”

Maguire says United are in “a lot better” place, with recent improvements clear in the performance, albeit not the result, against Arsenal in Sunday’s Premier League opener.

Riccardo Calafiori’s early header eventually condemned United to a 1-0 defeat, but new signings Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo impressed in an attack that saw fellow recent arrival Benjamin Sesko join in the second half.

“I think last year we just weren’t as big a threat going forward as we should have been for this club,” Maguire said at Manchester United Foundation’s multi-sports holiday camp at Stretford Sports Village.

“This club demands players who create chances, score goals and that’s what it’s done throughout its history.

Leao to miss AC Milan’s Serie A opener with calf injury

“So, I think Bryan and Matheus coming in, Sesko coming off the bench, these are players who have proven that they’re going to score goals and create chances.”

Swiss international Okafor

Separately, Noah Okafor’s reported $24 million fee Leeds United paid AC Milan on Thursday means English Premier League clubs have spent more than the previous record in a single transfer window.

The money spent on the 25-year-old Swiss international, who signed a four-year deal, takes the total outlay by the clubs to £2.37 billion, passing the previous mark of £2.36bn in the summer of 2023.

That total will only grow as there is still over a week to go before the transfer window closes.

Okafor, capped 24 times, made his name at Austrian side RB Salzburg, winning four league titles, before joining Milan and played a minor role in Napoli’s Scudetto triumph last term after being sent on loan there.

“As a kid, I dreamed of playing in the Premier League. That’s why for me it was quite an easy decision,” said Okafor on the club website.

“My football suits the Premier League, this is like a dream come true. I can’t wait to step on the field.

“I heard that the Premier League is the best league in the world, it’s so intense. I have loads of friends that played there or are playing there.

Leeds United win after late penalty against Everton

“I am ready for this new challenge.”

Okafor, who is reunited with former Salzburg teammate Brenden Aaronson and fellow Swiss Isaac Schmidt, said he had his breath taken away when Milan played Leeds in a pre-season friendly at Lansdowne Road in Dublin.

“I was like, why are there so many fans in a friendly game?

“And then I saw on the screen it was like 50,000. So I was like, wow.

“And it was quite loud, but I heard in the stadium (Elland Road), the atmosphere should be crazy.”

Okafor is Leeds’s ninth signing since they won the second tier Championship to return to the Premier League after a two-year hiatus.

They travel to one of the title favourites Arsenal on Saturday on the back of beating Everton 1-0 in their opening match.

The Gunners, who beat Manchester United 1-0 in their season opener, have not lost at home to Premier League newboys since a 1-0 reverse at the hands of Newcastle in November, 2010.

Should Arsenal avoid defeat on Saturday, they would equal the Premier League’s longest such run, with Chelsea racking up 43 between 2001 and 2015.