Southampton, Everton & Tottenham set to battle it out for Hull City ace
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He’s worked wonders in the short amount of time he’s been at the club. But should Marco Silva fail to keep Hull City in the Premier League, it’s likely a whole host of clubs will come in for his top players.
Having already lost Jake Livermore and Robert Snodgrass last month to West Bromwich Albion and West Ham respectively, Harry Maguire is the latest name attracting interest from Hull’s top-flight rivals.
As things stand, Southampton are leading the way for his signature at 5/2, with Everton close behind (3/1). But traders aren’t ruling out a potential move to Tottenham Hotspur, with 4/1 on offer for him teaming up with the likes of Harry Kane and Dele Alli.
And a centre-half like Maguire is exactly what Southampton need amongst their ranks.
Many expected Virgil van Dijk to leave the club last month, with the likes of Manchester United and Manchester City being linked. It’s still likely he’ll be moving on at the end of the season, while his former teammate, Jose Fonte, surprisingly signed for West Ham in the January transfer window.
That’s left the Saints desperately short at the back, with boss Claude Puel being forced to play the unlikely pairing of Jack Stephens and Maya Yoshida.
Martin Caceres’ arrival went some way to address the need for some added steel at the back for the south-coast outfit. But that deal is only until the end of the season, so it’s thought the French boss will enter the market for another defender at the end of the season.
Having signed Ashley Williams in the summer, the Toffees certainly boast a number of quality options at the back. But the Wales international will turn 33 in the summer, while his teammate Phil Jagielka will soon be 35.
At 23, Maguire would add more vibrancy to a defence which has been lacking exactly that in recent years. And having already brought through the likes of Tom Davies, Ademola Lookman and Dominic Calvert-Lewin into the first-team at Goodison Park, it’s clear Ronald Koeman is thinking ahead.
Meanwhile, we’ve seen on several occasions this season that Tottenham boast very little in the way of backup after Toby Alderweireld and Jan Vertonghen.
While it’s unlikely Maguire would walk straight into Mauricio Pochettino’s starting XI, he’d certainly be more reliable than Kevin Wimmer, while his arrival would allow Eric Dier to revert to a midfield role.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing
