Manchester United - News

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Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag has been forced to rethink plans to sell Scotland international Scott McTominay, 26, to West Ham following an injury to fellow midfielder, Englishman Kobbie Mainoo, 18, during the club's tour of the United States.

Real Sociedad have opened negotiations with Manchester United for their 26-year-old Netherlands midfielder Donny van de Beek.

Man Utd to make Mason Greenwood decision before start of Premier League season..By Simon Stone, BBC Sport.

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Mason Greenwood has not played for Manchester United since January 2022

Manchester United will decide striker Mason Greenwood's future before their opening Premier League game of the season against Wolves on 14 August.

A number of serious charges against Greenwood, including attempted rape and assault, were dropped on 2 February.

The Crown Prosecution Service said key witnesses had withdrawn and new material had come to light.

It meant there was "no longer a realistic prospect of conviction".

At the time, a statement released on 21-year-old Greenwood's behalf said he was "relieved".

However, United then said they were launching their own investigation.

Greenwood has been unavailable for selection ever since and has not been involved at the club's Carrington training ground. His United contract runs until June 2025.

Asked about the situation at the start of United's current tour of the United States, manager Erik ten Hag said he had given his opinions on the matter but it was for others at the club to decide.

It is understood that process is now near its conclusion, with an announcement anticipated at some point ahead of the Wolves game.

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Manchester United want Southampton's 19-year-old Belgium midfielder Romeo Lavia after Liverpool had a bid rejected.

Manchester United's signing of Atalanta's 20-year-old Denmark striker Rasmus Hojlund could be delayed until this weekend after he arrived in Manchester later than planned on Tuesday.

Manchester United have opened talks with Real Sociedad over the sale of 26-year-old Netherlands midfielder Donny van de Beek, which would help fund a move for Fiorentina's 26-year-old Morocco midfielder Sofyan Amrabat.

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Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag wants the club to bring in 23-year-old Real Madrid midfielder Aurelien Tchouameni, who is also a target for German club Bayern Munich.

Morocco midfielder Sofyan Amrabat has been left out of Fiorentina's squad for pre-season friendlies this weekend amid interest in the 26-year-old from Manchester United.

Andre Onana lobbed from 50 yards in Manchester United win v Lens..

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Manchester United keeper Andre Onana was lobbed from 50 yards but his side turned things around in a 3-1 win


Marcus Rashford was on target for Manchester United as Erik ten Hag's side came from behind to record a 3-1 success against Ligue 1 outfit Lens at Old Trafford.

A missed chance by Mason Mount and fellow new signing Onana being caught off his line from halfway for Lens' opener did not bode well.

However, in fairness to the Cameroon keeper, he was exposed by Diogo Dalot needlessly giving the ball away in his own half, which gave Florian Sotoca the chance to chip home from 50 yards.

Rashford led the revival, finishing off a fine Antony pass to bring a strong United starting line-up level, before the Brazilian winger put them in front from Alejandro Garnacho's assist.

New signing Rasmus Hojlund was introduced to a 57,802 crowd before kick-off but Rashford showed United have one striker in form, powering the header that deflected in off Casemiro to complete the victory.

Ten Hag's side complete their pre-season campaign against Athletic Bilbao in Dublin on Sunday.

West Ham bid above £50m for Man Utd pair Harry Maguire and Scott McTominay..By Simon Stone, BBC Sport.

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West Ham have made a combined bid worth more than £50m for Manchester United's Harry Maguire and Scott McTominay.

The Hammers have yet to make a signing this summer despite selling Declan Rice to Arsenal in a deal that could end up being worth £105m.

They are also in advanced talks with Ajax over 25-year-old Mexico midfielder Edson Alvarez.

Meanwhile, Italy striker Gianluca Scamacca, 24, has left the club to join Atalanta for an undisclosed fee.

After Saturday's 4-0 defeat by Bayer Leverkusen, there is greater momentum behind the Hammers' recruitment drive.

Whether West Ham can reach either the fee or salary requirements to conclude a deal for the Manchester United pair is open to question.

It is understood United would be open to a deal, but both England defender Maguire, 30, and Scotland midfielder McTominay, 26, are part of Erik ten Hag's squad and the club know they would need replacements for either if they were sold.

Scamacca spent one season with the Hammers having joined on a five-year contract from Sassuolo for £30.5m last July.

He made 27 appearances and scored eight goals, including five strikes in their victorious Europa Conference League campaign.

Manchester United: Roy Keane unveils new kit with nod to prawn sandwich rant..

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Keane with his prawn sandwiches in the United advert


In one of the summer's most unexpected plot twists, Roy Keane has returned to Manchester United after 18 years.

The outspoken and tough-tackling former captain unveiled the club's new third kit - and even gave a nod to his famous "prawn sandwich" rant.

Keane enjoyed 12 trophy-laden years at United before his shock exit in 2005 after a scathing attack on his own team-mates on the in-house TV station.

Although Keane has returned to Old Trafford as a pundit, the kit launch is the first time since he left that he has worked for United in a formal capacity.

The new kit, which is inspired by the shirt worn during the FA Cup-winning season of 1908-09, has a huge red devil - the symbol of the club - in place of the crest.

In the accompanying video, Keane asks the players, including England forward Marcus Rashford, if they have what it takes to be a red devil. It ends with Keane sat in front of a plate of prawn sandwiches shaking his head.

The former Republic of Ireland captain famously criticised some United fans after a 1-0 Champions League home win over Dynamo Kiev in 2000, with particular scorn reserved for those in the hospitality boxes.

"Away from home our fans are fantastic. I'd call them the hardcore fans," he said.

"But at home they have a few drinks and probably the prawn sandwiches, and they don't realise what's going on out on the pitch. I don't think some of the people who come to Old Trafford can spell football, never mind understand it."

Keane, 51, was a dominant figure for United after joining from Nottingham Forest for a then British record fee of £3.75m.

Regarded as one of the Premier League's greatest midfielders, he won seven seven Premier League titles, four FA Cups and the Champions League, including the Treble in 1998-99.

He retired in 2006 after one season at Celtic.

Harry Maguire: How world's most expensive defender lost his way at Manchester United..By Simon Stone, BBC Sport.

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Harry Maguire was relieved of his duties as captain of Manchester United before the upcoming 2023-24 season

Manchester United paid a record £80m to make Harry Maguire the world's most expensive defender in 2019.

Four years later, he is set to leave Old Trafford for West Ham in a £30m deal after being stripped of the captaincy this summer and having slipped to fifth choice centre back under manager Erik ten Hag.

A lot has happened in those four years - BBC Sport charts the ups and downs.

Summer 2019 - the £80m defender
Manchester United were prepared to make Maguire, at that time, the second-most expensive signing by an English club, after Paul Pogba. Then manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer spoke about his ability to read the game, his strong presence and calmness under pressure.

It was widely accepted these were all qualities United needed after the chaos of Jose Mourinho's final few months in charge and Solskjaer's inability to lift the club back into the Champions League places.

Twelve months previously, Mourinho had wanted to sign him. Pep Guardiola was keen to take Maguire to Manchester City.

2019-2020 - impressive debut season
Within three months of his arrival from Leicester, Maguire had captained United for the first time. Less than three months after that, the England man was given the armband on a permanent basis following Ashley Young's move to Inter Milan.

As he set about the latest United rebuild, having Maguire as a foundation and a leader seemed a no-brainer for Solskjaer.

It worked too. They finished that first Covid-affected season in third place. Maguire started every Premier League game and United tightened up considerably at the back. Champions Liverpool, who lost only three games, conceded just three goals fewer.

Summer 2020 - the Mykonos incident
The certainty around Maguire was stripped away on Thursday, 20 August when he was arrested on the Greek island of Mykonos and subsequently given a 21-month suspended sentence for hitting a police officer and attempted bribery following an altercation in a bar.

At the time, Maguire told BBC Sport he feared for his life. He insisted he had done nothing wrong and his appeal - which automatically means he is regarded as innocent under Greek law - will be heard on 7th February 2024.

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He continued to insist the incident had no additional effect on his football but when the new season started the following month, he did not seem to be the same player.

2021 - weaknesses begin to be exposed
Maguire was exposed and individually culpable in an "abysmal" display in a 6-1 home defeat by Tottenham in October 2020 - with Solskjaer describing it as his "worst day ever" as manager.

But it wasn't until 13 months later, in November 2021, that Solskjaer was sacked - following a torrid run including Maguire and the United defence being dismantled 5-0 by Liverpool at Old Trafford when the eventual margin of victory could have been much worse.

Now, the defender's failings - lack of pace and mobility - were being highlighted. His confidence appeared affected and criticism began to mount.

2022 - Ronaldo captaincy row
A major fallout with Cristiano Ronaldo over the captaincy disturbed squad unity and offered no support when Maguire could have done with some.

Reports of the rift were initially denied by interim boss Ralf Rangnick, but BBC Sport understands there was an issue, before Ronaldo's acrimonious exit in July 2022.

April 2022 - bomb threat
In April 2022, his Cheshire home was the subject of a bomb threat. Maguire accepted the negativity around his performances but, citing the affect on his family, said he felt a line had been crossed.

Summer 2022 - new manager, new plan
Ten Hag took the manager's job last summer with a clear plan. He wanted Martinez as his left-sided central defender.

Martinez wasn't on United's pre-season tour of Thailand and Australia but Ten Hag switched Maguire with Victor Lindelof anyway. When Maguire played, it was on the right. Given World Cup winner Raphael Varane plays there, at a stroke, Ten Hag had taken away Maguire's position in the team.

He has never looked like regaining it.

After starting almost every game in 2019-20 and 2020-21, last season Maguire made just 16 starts and 31 appearances, totalling 1,600 minutes on the pitch, compared to almost 5,000 in his first United campaign.

May 2023 - doubts over United future
At Brighton in May, when Varane and Martinez were missing through injury, Lindelof was moved to the right and Luke Shaw took the left-sided slot, with Diogo Dalot at full-back. Maguire was an unused substitute. That did not give the impression Ten Hag felt there was much of a future for him.

It is fair to say Maguire has had to show a lot of character over the past few months amid the negative fan backlash.

He was booed by United fans in Melbourne last summer when he played in a pre-season match against Crystal Palace. England supporters have also turned on him on occasion, when his name was read out before a friendly with the Ivory Coast last March and against Germany in September at Wembley.

Yet, to his credit, Maguire has remained stoic and kept his dignity.

After the EFL Cup final in February, when Maguire lifted the trophy with Bruno Fernandes despite coming on for the final two minutes, he said "I'm a footballer who wants to play games and I want to lead the boys out in the tunnel at the start of the game," but that his main job was to "move the club forward and bring success back".

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In February, Harry Maguire became the first Manchester United captain to lift silverware since 2017

Maguire said nothing after the FA Cup final defeat by Manchester City, when he remained on the bench throughout.

Between the two games, Maguire started just six times. Tellingly though, only one of them - the final day win against Fulham - was after the 3-0 hammering at Sevilla in the Europa League on 20 April.

It was after the England games that followed the FA Cup final defeat that Southgate spoke about Maguire's lack of game time, putting him in the same category as Kalvin Phillips, who had limited time on the pitch at Manchester City last season.

Nevertheless, the word remained that Maguire saw his future at Old Trafford.

July 2023 - loses captaincy & Onana rant
During Ten Hag's second pre-season, he took the club captaincy off Maguire, handing it to Bruno Fernandes. Maguire said he was "personally extremely disappointed" as he revealed it first on social media.

Similar to last pre-season, there were some fans at certain games that jeered his appearances.

It was always likely Ten Hag would switch his captains this summer, now he has his feet under the Old Trafford table and his rebuild is taking shape.

Maguire would have had a limited role at best behind Raphael Varane, Lisandro Martinez, Victor Lindelof and even Luke Shaw.

In what looks like being one of Maguire's final appearances for United, he was berated by new goalkeeper Andre Onana for a slack pass in a 3-2 defeat to Borussia Dortmund in a pre-season friendly.

Despite a big contract with at least two years left, and Ten Hag saying publicly Maguire was still part of his plans - a fresh start probably feels like the best move for all.

With Euro 2024 to come at the end of this season, England boss Gareth Southgate has told Maguire he needed to play more often to secure his place in the squad.

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Anon: Perhaps in the Ferguson era the pressure for playing for Man Utd was different, but nowadays it's no different than playing for any team trying to get into the top six. The fans and price tag are to blame for Maguire's perceived lack of success there, not the actual shirt anymore.

Chris: Great move for Maguire. Out of the spotlight at Man U. I'm sure he'll be good for West Ham. Pressure at Man U is different from any other English club.

Ian: Harry Maguire is a talented footballer for the "smaller" teams. He didn't really stand a chance at Utd as he was from the first minute under scrutiny due to his price tag. England will benefit from him playing week in week out. Win-win situation for him. Being a Man Utd fan myself I am relieved to get the 30m for him and hopefully buy Amrabat and sign Jonny Evans on a free.

Danny: Great move for Maguire and hopefully he can start to show his England form for the Hammers. In the last 2 years he was named in the Euro 2020 team of the tournament and wasn't far off the World Cup team of the tournament. Good luck to him!

Luke: I'm a United fan, and personally I'm relieved for Maguire that he's got a move. Criticism of him was getting out of hand, some of it justified and some of it not, but that's what comes at big clubs like Utd. I really hope he excels at WHU and proves a lot of people wrong. It's the right move for everyone.

Ed, London: This is definitely a win for both sides. You might feel a £50m loss is laughable but he is not part of ETH future - we need to trust the process. As for Maguire himself - he'll do much better at West Ham, their playing style is more suited for a "stay in the box" defender, he will definitely improve their defence!