‘Be ruthless and get rid’: United legend urges INEOS to be unsparing and ditch £190,000-a-week star before it’s too late

Having shipped £88 million on the signings of Joshua Zirkzee and Leny Yoro, INEOS will presumably turn their attention to which high-profile outgoings they can sanction to create more room for manoeuvre around the Premier League’s financial restrictions.

Already this summer, Manchester United have bid farewell to Alvaro Fernandez (Benfica), Donny van de Beek (Girona), Willy Kambwala (Villarreal) and Mason Greenwood (Olympique de Marseille), recuperating a total of £42m in return.

However, with last season’s unprecedented injury crisis prompting stark concerns over squad depth, it remains to be seen where United will turn next.

Scott McTominay is said to be garnering ‘mounting interest’ this summer, although Erik ten Hag has made it clear he wants to keep the midfielder at his disposal following a career-best campaign. He is a Carrington graduate, so any fee the club could potentially recuperate would go down as a straight profit.

Treble-winner Dwight Yorke has shared his stance on the club’s transfer dealings, urging INEOS chiefs to be unsparing in sending one Red on his way before deadline day.

Read more: Euro club ‘now asking for’ £17.7m more to sanction player’s exit after learning of United’s interest

Yorke advises INEOS to cut ties with experienced Red before it’s too late

“Harry Maguire could sit out the last year of his contract and know he’s going to play at some point due to injuries, but United really need to be ruthless and get rid of him,” he told Premier League Betting, as cited by Mail Sport.

“They have Lisandro Martinez, Victor Lindelof and maybe Leny Yoro, but Harry Maguire is in the position that he doesn’t have to go anywhere if he doesn’t want to. The opportunity has passed to get rid of him because he so desperately wanted to be at Euro 2024, and he would have done anything to play.

“That was the time to move him so he could get regular football. So that opportunity passed, and he’s still there.”

Maguire, who earns a reported £190,000 per week and remains the most expensive defender in world football, was the subject of a £30m bid from West Ham last year. United accepted the proposal, but a deal ultimately failed to materialise.