West Ham use David Moyes ‘influence’ as £20m bid is made for Manchester United and England star

West Ham United tested Manchester United’s resolve to get rid of Harry Maguire with a £20million offer. The bid was instantly rejected with United looking for a fee of around £35million for the centre-back.

Maguire has lost his slot in the starting team since Erik ten Hag took over and was recently demoted from being the captain of the club with Bruno Fernandes taking over. Hammers manager David Moyes is a massive fan of the defender and has told his club to do anything possible to get him.

Manchester United are open to having him leave and have accepted they will not get half of the £80million fee they paid Leicester for his services in 2019. Last January the Hammers also saw a bid to sign him on loan rejected and they have now followed that up with a sale bid.

Maguire has had a few difficult seasons but showed his quality when he played for England at the World Cup, helping the team reach the quarter-final stage in Qatar.

England manager Gareth Southgate had stuck by him even when he wasn't a regular at his club level but that loyalty will be tested in next year’s European Championship, especially with the emergence of young defenders like Chelsea Levi Colwill.

Manchester United have made progress under Ten Hag and are looking to go a gear up by competing for the Premier League title and wrestling it from neighbour Manchester City.

West Ham won the Europa Conference League last year, their first trophy in more than four decades as the defensive partnership of Kurt Zouma and Nayef Aguerd flourished.