Harry Maguire plays in behind-closed-doors friendly against Everton amid Goodison transfer speculation
Harry Maguire played in a behind-closed-doors friendly for Manchester United against Everton on Tuesday (15 August), according to UtdPlug.
The Man United experts, who have 789,000 followers – one of them being Fabrizio Romano – on their Twitter page, tweeted on 15 August that the England centre-back played in the game against the Toffees despite being linked with a move to Goodison Park this summer [Independent].
The Blues have been considering making a move for the 30-year-old, who has been expected to sign for Premier League rivals West Ham but the deal is currently stalling.
UtdPlug provided regular updates on the behind-closed-doors game.
Toffees move unlikely
It seems incredibly unlikely that Everton would be able to pull off a move for Maguire this summer due to the financials involved in the deal.
West Ham have agreed a fee with the Red Devils that is worth a reported £30million and the defender is believed to be earning about £ 190,000 a week.
There is no way the Toffees can afford to splash out that kind of cash on one player due to the ongoing financial struggles surrounding the club, leading to it operating under a tight transfer budget.
It’s also starting to look as though he won’t be moving on from Old Trafford after he played in the friendly against the Blues despite previously being thought to be on the brink of joining the Hammers.
It’s not clear yet who lined up for the Toffees in the game against Man United, but Sean Dyche has likely used the opportunity to hand some fringe players some much-needed minutes to help get them up to speed.
In other Everton news, Alan Stubbs has been impressed by one Toffees signing this summer.