Harry Maguire 'in line for £10m pay-off if he leaves Manchester United'

Harry Maguire could reportedly receive a £10m pay-off from Manchester United if he leaves this summer due to the size of the club captain's wage packet.

The 30-year-old is widely expected to depart the Red Devils during the upcoming market due to his struggles during Erik ten Hag's first campaign as head coach of the club.

Maguire only started eight Premier League matches during the 2022-23 campaign, with Lisandro Martinez, Raphael Varane and Victor Lindelof all ahead of him in the middle of the defence, while left-back Luke Shaw was also preferred in the centre to Maguire during stages of the season.

The Man United captain did start Sunday's league clash with Fulham, but he is widely expected to be back on the bench for the FA Cup final against Manchester City on Saturday.

Maguire admitted after the clash with the Cottagers that he would ideally like to play more matches, while Ten Hag also accepted the defender's unhappiness with his current situation.

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A number of clubs, including West Ham United and Newcastle United, are said to be keen to explore the possibility of signing the defender this summer.

There is also believed to be interest from Italy, while Maguire's boyhood club Sheffield United will return to the Premier League for the 2023-24 campaign and could yet make an ambitious approach to re-sign him.

Maguire's salary would make it difficult for a number of clubs to afford him, with the England international picking up £190,000 a week at Old Trafford.

According to the Daily Mail, interested clubs would only be willing to pay him around half that amount, which could see Man United having to give him a £10m pay-off in order to leave.

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The report claims that Maguire's valuation has now dropped to around £30m, as he only has two years left to run on his contract with the 20-time English champions.

The centre-back made the move to Old Trafford from Leicester City in the summer of 2019, and he has represented the club on 175 occasions, scoring seven goals and registering five assists.

Maguire kept hold of the captain's armband at Old Trafford upon Ten Hag's arrival, and he started the season in the team, but poor displays against Brighton & Hove Albion and Brentford led to him being dropped.

The defender has featured on 31 occasions at club level this term, but he has started only 16 of Man United's 61 games in all competitions and is seemingly not in Ten Hag's plans moving forward.