Manchester United are upbeat over their chances of landing Leicester City defender Harry Maguire.

The Daily Mail says United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer wants the 26-year-old Leicester City defender to become the new leader of his revamped side and United will back him with a lucrative contract offer.

Talks are ongoing between the clubs with Leicester's £85million valuation the obvious hurdle as United look to strike a compromise closer to £75m.

Maguire had initially intimated he would prefer a move to City but they are reluctant to bid that high, giving United incentive to conclude a deal.

Leicester are aware the lure of a move to Old Trafford could be tempting and have been identifying options to replace Maguire with Burnley's £40m-rated James Tarkowski among them.

United, who have six centre backs in their current first-team squad, are understood to have proposed players in return but Leicester would prefer a straight cash deal.