Premier League: Leicester City defender Harry Maguire signs for Manchester United on reported world-record fee of £80 million

The long-running transfer saga involving Harry Maguire drew to a close on Monday with the defender signing a six-year contract to complete a reported £80 million move from Leicester City to Manchester United. He becomes the second most expensive signing by United - behind Paul Pogba’s £89 million three years ago. The transfer fee was accepted a few days ago, as per reports, but the official word was delayed by the formalities between Maguire and his new club. With the move, Maguire becomes the most expensive defender in history.

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Welcome, @HarryMaguire93 👋 #MUFC

— Manchester United (@ManUtd) August 5, 2019

It completes a remarkable transformation in the career of the 26-year-old Maguire, who joined Hull City from Sheffield United for £2.5 million almost five years ago to the day. Then, struggling to find a place in the Hull team, he was sent on loan to Wigan Athletic in February 2015. He only became a first team regular at Hull under Mike Phelan during the 2016-2017 season that ended with relegation from the Premier League – and he will work with Phelan again at Old Trafford. From Hull, he moved to Leicester for £17 million two years ago. Maguire’s transfer fee trumps the £75 million that Liverpool paid Southampton for Virgil Van Dijk in January last year. The Dutchman was an important cog in Liverpool’s campaign last season where they won the Champions League and finished narrowly behind Manchester City in the league and Maguire will hope that he delivers the same impact for United. There still remains considerable business for United to complete before the transfer window closes on Thursday. The future of Paul Pogba and Romelu Lukaku are still unresolved and it remained unclear whether the Frenchman was staying with United. Lukaku is wanted by Juventus and Inter Milan and is valued at £90 million by United. United are less than a week away from start of their season at home to Chelsea and have splashed over £150 million on Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Daniel James and Maguire.