When Manchester United faced the sale of Harry Maguire, they immediately started working to recruit a replacement. 

Reporter Fabrizio Romano, an expert in the European football transfer market, reported on social media on the 9th (Korean time) that “West Ham has agreed in principle with Manchester United for a transfer fee of 30 million pounds (approximately 50.2 billion won) for Harry Maguire.”

Maguire, a giant defender who is 194cm tall and weighs 100kg, is once a center back that Manchester United had high expectations for. To bring Maguire, who played in Leicester City in 2019, Manchester United spent a whopping 80 million pounds (about 133.8 billion won), setting a new record for transfer fees for a defender.

However, as the season went on, Maguire began to deviate from United’s expectations. From the 2020/21 season, he started to receive criticism from fans for frequent mistakes even though he was the main player, and in the 2021/22 season, he started 28 games and received many opportunities, but was evaluated as having the largest share in Manchester United’s decline in the rankings. 

In the 2022/23 season, he was completely pushed out of his starting position. Newcomer Lisandro Martinez started alongside Rafael Varane in the starting lineup, and Maguire only started eight league games. This summer he gave up the captain’s armband to Bruno Fernandez and virtually lost his place in the team. 

Eventually, Manchester United decided to sell Maguire, and West Ham showed interest. West Ham started signing Maguire based on the transfer fee of 105 million pounds (approximately 175.6 billion won) obtained by sending team captain Declan Rice to Arsenal, and eventually agreed with Manchester United for 30 million pounds, leaving only medical tests and announcements in effect. seems to be 

“The key parts of the deal are still being discussed, but the transfer fee has been agreed,” Romano said. 

In the midst of this, it was reported that Man Utd was immediately in contact to recruit Maguire’s replacement, raising the expectations of Man Utd fans. 

The British media mirror reported on the 9th, citing the news of the French media RMC Sports, “Man United are aiming for Jean-Claire Todibo.” 

“Manchester United executives have contacted OGC Nice about the possibility of signing Todibo in the summer transfer window. Totibou is a priority for United should Maguire leave,” Mirror said. It seems that we have had a conversation,” he said, expressing interest in signing Todibo from Manchester United. 

Todibo made his debut at the young age of 18 in Toulouse and received a lot of attention. Afterwards, he moved to Barcelona and was even evaluated that he would be able to grow as the next best center back in France, and Barcelona also expressed strong expectations by receiving the number 6 uniform worn by Xavi Hernandez.

However, Todibo’s growth at Barcelona was dampened. Todibo, who only played 6 games in Barcelona, ​​later lived on loan with Schalke and Benfica, but did not survive. 

In the end, he moved to Nice in 2021 and started a new career, showing signs of improvement little by little. He played in 36 league games in the 2021/22 season and established himself as the main defender, and also started in 34 league games in the 2022/23 season, the previous season, and played an active role by utilizing wide coverage and aggressiveness. Afterwards, he boarded the French national team in March 2023, showing a growth trend that matches the expectations of his promising career.

Man United seems to want to have a third center back following Baran and Lisandro through the signing of Todibo, and is expected to aim for a generational change in the defense in the long term. 

However, Nice does not seem to have any intention of selling Todivo yet, so Manchester United will need persuasion and a considerable transfer fee. RMC Sports explained, “Nice want to keep Todivo,” and explained that it may not be easy for Todivo to transfer right away. 메이저놀이터

With Maguire’s imminent transfer, Manchester United immediately started work on reorganizing the defense team, and it is noteworthy whether the recruitment of Todivo will give breathing room to the defense operation.