Manchester United closing in on captures of Maguire and Fernandes

Throw Sean Longstaff into the mix and that would be five new arrivals at Old Trafford.

We may yet be proved wrong, but it has always been our suspicion that Harry Maguire would not be joining Manchester City. As much as certain outlets reported City to be interested, the Leicester defender is not exactly a Pep Guardiola prototype. The City links may have been genuine but the league champions were never going to slip into a bidding war and pay north of £70 million for his services. Manchester United, on the other hand... [caption id="attachment_203648" align="aligncenter" width="800"] Harry Maguire of Leicester City applauds the crowd at The King Power Stadium on May 12. (Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)[/caption] United are in desperate need for a defensive leader and have been since the Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic partnership came to an end. For Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, getting in Maguire and telling Axel Tuanzebe, who impressed on loan at Aston Villa last season, would go a long way to rectifying his shaky defence. Add in the newly purchased Aaron Wan-Bissaka, hope for a David De Gea to sign a new deal and shake off his late season blundering, Luke Shaw to push on again and pump the tyres of Victor Lindelof and United could reasonably expect to concede 50% less league goals this season. Reports in England claim the 'way is clear' for United to seal the Maguire transfer as Manchester City are not willing to go above £70m for the 26-year-old. A separate report has advanced the Bruno Fernandes transfer story, too. O Jogo [a Portuguese outlet] claims Miguek Pinho - agent to the Sporting Lisbon and Portugal star - is off to England for a second meeting with United about his 24-year-old client. United were reportedly staved off with their initial bid of £31m for Fernandes and may end up laying out closer to £40m before pen is put to paper. Solskjaer is said to be keen, meanwhile, on getting a deal for 21-year-old Newcastle United Sean Longstaff over the line soon [for around £20m] while the club have been linked with Spanish youngster Daniel Olmo, who is currently at Dinamo Zagreb.