Insider Dean Jones has claimed that Manchester United may loan Harry Maguire to allow for the arrival of Kim Min-jae.
There is a strong belief that the Red Devils will be looking to upgrade their defensive options in the summer window.
Journalist Florian Plettenberg has stated on Twitter that a central defender is a priority for Man Utd alongside bringing in a new striker too.
According to Corriere dello Sport (via Goal), Napoli's Kim is a big target and could be signed for just £42m in July thanks to his release clause.
While speaking about that rumour on the latest episode of the Chasing Green Arrows podcast, Jones stated that the interest was genuine and claimed that Maguire could be sent on loan to make way for the new defender.
On the links with Kim, he said: "I think there's more substance to this. I think there's definitely something in this. He's obviously got this clause that kicks in - I think it's only a 10-day window that it's live for at the start of July - where it's available for 50 million.
"I mean, they would be stupid if they weren't looking at an opportunity like that to be quite frank. And if the player's keen to get to the Premier League, they've got as good a chance as anybody
"What an unbelievable opportunity to upgrade that defence.
He continued: "Still got to move on Harry Maguire, they've got to figure out a situation around that because you can't have all of these defenders on the payroll.
"There might even be the case, I think, that Harry Maguire ends up going on loan for next season. It wouldn't surprise me if they had to do that, just to shift him on and open up some space in the squad."
It seems quite likely that Maguire could be offloaded this summer. After all, he's not featured that regularly under Erik ten Hag, with just seven starts in the league this term.
There has been talk of a £50m sale this summer but teams might not be willing to pay so much for the Englishman - especially as his wages are so high at £190k-p/w.
A loan, however, would mean Maguire's potential new side wouldn't have to worry about a transfer fee, making his wages more affordable.
And so, this could be the easiest way for United to offload an unwanted player and consequently make space in the squad for someone new like Kim.