Man Utd warned as Rodgers confirms two Harry Maguire bids have failed (original) (raw)

Leicester boss Brendan Rodgers praised the professionalism of Harry Maguire and admitted he was “relaxed” about Manchester United’s interest having confirmed they had snubbed two offer for the defender.

United are hoping to bring in a top-level centre-back before the transfer window shuts next month and it is widely reported that the England international is in the Old Trafford giants’ sights.

United are understood to have submitted an opening £70million bid earlier this month, while there were claims at the weekend that an improved bid of £80m had been accepted.

However, the Foxes are standing firm amid claims they are seeking as much as £90million for Maguire.

And after Maguire played 45 minutes in Leicester’s 1-0 friendly win at Scunthorpe on Tuesday, Rodgers spoke about the situation afterwards.

He said: “We don’t have to sell Harry.

“Harry has been absolutely brilliant about this right from the word go. He’s a top, top player and a top guy. I thunk it’s important the supporters know that.

“I’ve been in this situation before with players and it’s not always easy but Harry has been absolutely superb. We’ve had a chat about it, obviously.

“He’s happy and I tip my hat to him for the way he’s dealt with all this because it can be unsettling.”

“There’s a value that hasn’t been met yet and my support is to him. He’s a special player and we want to keep him but, of course, time will tell.

“The other club interested is a huge club but he’s a really good guy.

“I’ve been in this position a number of times and it’s never easy but he’s taken part in everything and hasn’t showed anything other than sheer professionalism. You’ve seen that tonight with the 45 minutes he played.”

United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer addressed the situation himself on Tuesday.

Rodgers on Harry Maguire replacements

Asked by Sky Sports News about potential replacements should Maguire leave, Rodgers added: “The club have been very good. If we lose him we’d have a number of targets we’d look at.

“But we’re quite relaxed with him. He’s a top-quality player and no one has come near the valuation of the player to tempt the club to sell.”

The Foxes have been linked with Burnley’s James Tarkowski and Lewis Dunk of Brighton – a man believed to be their main target and a story which appeared exclusively first on TEAMtalk.

Ayoze Perez, who joined Leicester from Newcastle on July 4, scored the only goal of the Glanford Park contest in the first half.

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