Tottenham have moved in the lead to sign Harry Maguire
When Tottenham signed Victor Wanyama last season Spurs fans were happy, but certainly not overjoyed. After all, it didn’t look like the club needed another central defender. In the same way, the club isn’t desperate to sign a centre back this summer. If they do sign Harry Maguire though, he could have a similar impact next season to Wanyama’s 2016-17 campaign.
Skybet has installed Tottenham as the strong favourites to pry the classy defender away from Hull. Whether or not Marco Silva’s club are relegated, they’ll struggle to hang on to Maguire next year. He only has one year left on his current deal and certainly is capable of playing at a bigger club, while receiving larger wages.
To that end, Spurs currently are priced at 1/3 to bring Maguire in this summer. Those are very strong odds in advance of the summer transfer window actual opening. Presumably, it’s a result of a rash of “in the know” wagers on Spurs to complete the transaction.
Tottenham fans should not assume this means that Toby Alderweireld is going anywhere. Mauricio Pochettino has clearly lost in Kevin Wimmer which leaves the club short of a central defender heading into next year. Maguire’s role could really be integral if the Spurs manager persists in playing a back three on a weekly basis. Maguire would be the perfect compliment to Alderweireld and Jan Vertonghen in that formation.
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Signing Maguire for somewhere close to the presumed transfer fee of £15 million would be eerily similar to the Wanyama heist. Both players came at a discount due to their contract situations. Both would arrive at Spurs without a clear starting role in the squad. I suspect that Maguire, like Wanyama, would force his way into the starting XI almost immediately.
The real beauty of the move would be getting the deal over on the rest of the Premier League. Other top English clubs are enamored with the idea of signing Virgil van Dijk or Michael Keane this summer while ignoring the Hull defender. Van Dijk will likely cost three times the money and for me, Maguire is a better defender than Keane. It would truly be a brilliant move by Spurs.
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Signing Harry Maguire won’t win social media for Spurs this summer, but it would likely win them a few matches next season. Keep an eye on Tottenham as they try to complete the deal under the cover of night.