Arsenal: Harry Maguire has the untouchable mark on him

Arsenal are supposedly inquiring after the services of Harry Maguire, but if reports are true, he has the untouchable mark on him. So best we move on.

Arsenal need help on the defense, and it looks like maybe they aren’t completely selling out on William Saliba being the guy, at least if the reports of them inquiring after Harry Maguire are true. The Leicester City defender always figured to be one of the hottest names on the transfer market, not least of all because he’s English and established in the Premier League.

That’s the double whammy right there, price jack times infinity. But still, there’s no doubting how much of a help he would be to this floundering Arsenal defense, so it only makes sense that we’ve been asking around about him.

But unfortunately for the Gunners, Harry Maguire has the clear and unmistakable untouchable mark right on his forehead—that mark being the interest of a Manchester club.

Once a player has this mark, he becomes an impossible task for any club that isn’t based in Manchester and thus privy to unlimited money.

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Currently, Manchester United are after the services of Maguire, and they have reportedly already lodged a £70m bid for him, because some clubs are made of money, spend it shamelessly, and hope for the best.

The simple fact of the matter is that we cannot and will not compete with that bid. As soon as it was lodged, the untouchable mark emblazoned on Maguire. Use the Wilfried Zaha saga as a guide on this one, the price is set at £80m, we bid £40m.

So if Manchester United bid £70m, get ready for us to jump in their and lodge a whopping £35m bid. The difference is Zaha actually wants to come to the Emirates (supposedly) and has ruled out a reunion with Manchester United, so they’re out of the picture. With Harry Maguire, United are very much still in the picture and they are waving their bulging wallet for all to see while Arsenal pick spare change up off the ground and try to scrounge together enough to look serious.

I would love Maguire at Arsenal, but that price is permanently jacked up thanks to the unlimited funds of Manchester United. We’re never going to compete.

On the bright side, there are a lot of budget-friendly, under-the-radar signings that can still be procured that don’t have the triple whammy—English, Premier League proven, and interest from Manchester A or Manchester B.