Football
Rob Dawson, Correspondent 5y

Sources: Utd, Leicester £15m apart for Maguire

Manchester United have been given fresh hope in their pursuit of Harry Maguire after the defender pulled out of Leicester's upcoming friendly with Atalanta but the two clubs remain more than £15 million apart in their valuations, sources have told ESPN FC.

United have offered £70m plus £10m in add-ons for the England centre-half but Leicester are holding out for £85m with an extra £10m in performance related bonuses.

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Maguire has told Leicester he would like to join Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side after missing out on a move to Old Trafford last summer. The 26-year-old missed training on Monday because of illness. He returned to training on Tuesday but will not play against Atalanta on Friday after pulling out of the squad.

With just a week to go before the transfer deadline, United are facing a race against time to conclude a deal. Maguire is Solskjaer's top defensive target but there remains interest in Napoli centre-half Kalidou Koulibaly.

United are also waiting to hear whether Paulo Dybala is willing to join the club in a deal that would see striker Romelu Lukaku move to Juventus. Sources have told ESPN FC Lukaku is keen to join the Italian champions but Dybala has reservations about moving to Manchester and swapping Champions League football for at least one season in the Europa League. The Argentine is set for more talks with Juventus on Friday.

Inter Milan are also still in talks with United over a deal for Lukaku but have so far refused to meet the £80m asking price.

Meanwhile, Newcastle have not dropped their £50m valuation of midfielder Sean Longstaff. United are willing to pay between £25m and £30m for the 21-year-old, who has made just nine Premier League appearances, but are yet to submit a formal bid.

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