Summary Manchester United's deal for Benjamin Pavard is on "standby" due to Harry Maguire's decision to stay at the club. The club's inability to offload unwanted players like Scott McTominay and Donny van de Beek is causing problems. Pavard wants to leave Bayern Munich for United but Maguire's situation is affecting the potential deal.
Manchester United's deal for Benjamin Pavard is now on "standby" following the revelation that former captain Harry Maguire is staying at the club for now, per transfers expert Fabrizio Romano.
Manchester United news – what is the latest?
It's been a mostly successful summer of transfer business for United so far this year.
The arrival of Mason Mount from Chelsea for around £55m should instantly impact the team's midfield and help create more competition among the players already there.
Andre Onana was always going to be a good signing and was only made all the more of a necessity once David de Gea left the club upon his contract running out.
Read the latest Manchester United transfer news HERE…
And whilst Rasmus Hojlund is still only a youngster – an incredibly inexperienced one at that – he was able to show in his short time with Atalanta that he has the raw attributes to eventually become the club's leading number nine, even if that doesn't happen this season.
However, for as good as these three signings have been, it's the club's inability to shift their unwanted stars that is causing them problems, with Scott McToninay, Donny van de Beek and especially Harry Maguire all still at the club.
The former captain looked like he would be joining West Ham United just a few days ago, but Sky Sports News have revealed that the deal was never that close and Maguire had never even spoken to David Moyes.
This is an issue for Erik ten Hag's side as without the 30-year-old leaving for the reported £30m, their attempts to sign Bayern Munich star Benjamin Pavard will become a lot harder, with Sky Sports reporting that signing the Frenchman without sending someone the other way would've had negative implications on FFP.
This has left the World Cup winner in an awkward position as despite informing his club that he wants to leave, his opportunity to do so could have gone, per transfers expert Fabrizio Romano.
He explained the situation on his YouTube channel, saying:
"On standby now Benjamin Pavard to Manchester United because the player was waiting for United. He told in any case to Bayern that he's not going to extend the contract and he wants to leave for this opportunity with United.
"Let's see now what's going to happen because it was linked to Harry Maguire; let's see what happens now between Pavard and Man United.
"For sure, this Maguire story is not helping the deal, but again let's see what happens with Maguire in general also the other clubs the next couple of weeks.
How tall is Benjamin Pavard?
The 27-year-old stands 6 foot 1 tall and would be United's joint tallest full-back alongside Luke Shaw were he to join this summer and play on the flanks, but he would be the shortest centre-back.
He had an outstanding season for the Bundesliga champions last year, starting 27 games, scoring four goals, providing one assist taking 1.1 shots per game, maintaining a passing accuracy of 89.9%, winning 2.1 aerial duals per game, winning two Man-of-the-Match awards and averaging an outrageously good match rating of 7.17, per WhoScored.
Were the Red Devils to sign the £82,000-a-week man, they would also have an incredibly versatile player at their disposal as in his 256 senior appearances, he has played in six different positions on the pitch, an attribute that would surely make life much easier for ten Hag when the games start coming thick and fast later on in the season.
United should do all they can to shift Maguire if his presence is the only thing stopping them from signing the "outstanding" Pavard, as his arrival would surely benefit the team in their hunt for more silverware this season.