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Steve Bruce suggests £30m player should have joined West Ham this summer

Milo Clay

Tue 17 October 2023 18:15, UK

𝓀Steve Bruce has suggested that Manchester United defender Harry Maguire should have joined West Ham over the summer.

Bruce🦂 has been speaking on and discussed Maguire’s situation at Old Trafford. The 30-year-old has fallen out of favour under Erik ten Hag and was stripped of the captaincy over the summer. 

Maguire𓃲 looked set to move on after playing limited minutes last season, with David Moyes particularly keen on signing the defender.

Indeed, claimed that Moyes was even considering Maguire♚ as a candidate to become West Ham’s new captain.  

🅺Of course, Maguire opted to stay at Old Trafford and fight for his place under Ten Hag. But Bruce feels the England star should have taken up the opportunity to work with Moyes. 

Bruce says Maguire should have joined West Ham

🍸Speaking to talkSPORT’s Simon Jordan, Bruce admitted he was surprised Maguire didn’t seek a fresh challenge over the summer.

💜“I thought when he had the opportunity to go to West Ham, I don’t know how it fell down or what happened, that might have been an answer,” he said. “Go and play in a different environment, start again and be valued.”

꧃He added: “I think the way the manager is, he’s sort of said ‘Here’s the door, you’re not for me’. Fair enough. That’s the way it works, that’s the way it happens.

꧃“That’s why I was surprised he didn’t take him up on it. But in terms of the stuff he’s getting, it borders on ridicule and I don’t like that.”

ඣ“I nearly rang him in the summer because I’ve known him before and I was at a wedding where he was at,” Bruce said. “I think personally, I’d have moved on.

🐬“Once a manager has done that and shown his cards to you, you’ve got to move on and find yourself a career again. Boost it again and feel respected in the audience you’re in.

𝔉“Certainly under Moyes, I thought it would have been a really, really good fit.” 

𓆉Maguire played under Bruce during his time at Hull City before securing a move to Leicester City back in 2017.

💦It’s fair to say that Maguire has endured a difficult spell in Manchester and has even been booed by his own supporters while playing for England.

🧸It would have made sense for the centre-back to move on over the summer and a switch to West Ham seemed ideal on paper. 

💛Yet, Maguire opted to remain in Manchester and it will be intriguing to see if West Ham revisit their interest in the former United captain.