Sport

West Ham agree deal in principle to sign Harry Maguire from Manchester United for £30m

It looks like his torrid turn at Old Trafford is finally coming to an end.

Danny Jones Danny Jones - 9th August 2023

West Ham have reportedly agreed a deal in principle to sign Manchester United’s Harry Maguire, as the England international’s future at Old Trafford has been hanging in the balance for some time.

Harry Maguire became the world’s most expensive defender when he signed for Man United on a £80m deal back in 2019 and despite having a fairly solid first season, it’s safe to say that his time in a red shirt has been pretty turbulent ever since.

From being stripped of the captaincy last month to receiving boos in pre-season, this year’s campaign was never going to be straightforward for the 30-year-old defender, but it now looks as though he might be swapping one United for another ahead of the Premier League restart.

As per numerous outlets, West Ham United are said to have agreed “a deal in principle” with his current employers to sign Maguire for a fee of around £30 million, meaning he’d be leaving the club for £50m less than he joined them for.

Nothing’s been signed yet but it feels like a simple case of crossing Ts and dotting the Is.

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The Athletic‘s Laurie Whitewell has stated that “personal terms are not expected to be an issue” and while the struggling centre-back wanted to stay and fight for his place — supposedly training three times a day to get sharp — it became clear that the chances of regular football wouldn’t be guaranteed.

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West Ham and former United manager, David Moyes, had made his interest in Maguire clear over the past few weeks and months, and there had been rumours that the 60-year-old could even offer him the captaincy to sweeten the deal after Declan Rice vacated the position with his move to Arsenal.

It was also reported that the Irons wanted to sign Scott McTominay along with the United number five but that an initial £60m offer for both players was rejected, and although both the Scotsman and his regular midfielder partner Fred could both still be on their way out, nothing has been agreed as yet.

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So, provided the deal gets over the line, as we’re sure many Reds will be relieved to hear if/when it does (the general consensus is that it’s probably the best outcome for everyone), Maguire’s four-year stay at United is soon to come to an end and ten Hag will no doubt be looking to find another replacement.

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Featured Image — Harry Maguire (via Instagram)/West Ham United (via Twitter)

Sport

The independent Manchester gym that’s spent eight years getting the city’s office workers stronger

Daisy Jackson Daisy Jackson

In a city centre that has changed almost beyond recognition over the past eight years, one Manchester gym has stuck to a simple idea – getting people stronger shouldn’t have to take over their lives.

Tucked away on Kennedy Street, opposite Manchester Town Hall and just a short walk from St Peter’s Square tram stop, P1 Fitness Studio is celebrating its eighth year in business.

This local success story has been built by husband-and-wife team Peter and Abby, who wanted to build the kind of gym they actually wanted to train in themselves, after becoming increasingly frustrated with what they saw as the ‘normal gym scene’.

Their answer was to create something different: a smaller, calmer space where people could be coached properly, recognised when they walked through the door and actually enjoy coming to train.

Eight years later, Peter and Abby are still hands-on in the independently owned business, working alongside a coaching team of five.

Welcome to P1 Fitness, in Manchester city centre / Credit: The Manc Group

There is no franchise model or corporate head office. Just the same basic philosophy they started with in 2018, which seems to have resonated with a particular part of Manchester.

P1’s members are predominantly busy professionals – lawyers, architects, creatives, teachers, business owners and office workers – many of them in their 30s, 40s and beyond.

For people spending much of their working lives behind a desk, the proposition is deliberately straightforward – you don’t need to live in the gym to become stronger and healthier.

P1 believes two properly coached strength sessions a week can make a meaningful difference.

Sessions last 50 minutes and run throughout the working day, meaning members can train before work, at lunchtime or after work. There are showers, changing facilities, towels and toiletries too, making it possible to fit training around a working day rather than the other way round.

More recently, the studio has added an infrared sauna, giving members somewhere to recover and switch off before heading back to the office or home.

The independent Manchester gym that’s spent eight years getting the city’s office workers stronger / Credit: The Manc Group

P1 specialises in small group personal training, with a maximum of six people per coach.

Everyone follows a structured strength programme, but the coaching is adapted to the individual. Exercises, weights, and progressions can all be changed depending on someone’s ability, goals, injuries or simply how they’re feeling that day.

So someone picking up a barbell for the first time can train alongside somebody who has been lifting for years, without either being pushed through the same generic circuit.

It’s also not the kind of gym where you’ll see your own reflection staring back at you at every turn, because the focus is on becoming stronger and moving better, rather than how you look. 

The idea is longevity – looking after your joints, maintaining muscle, building strength, and staying capable of doing the things you want to do outside the gym as you get older.

Or, in P1’s own words: “Built stronger to last longer.”

And there’s some impressive evidence that the approach has encouraged people to stay the course.

Based on its current schedule of roughly 75 coached sessions a week, P1 estimates it has delivered more than 31,000 coached sessions across its eight years.

Some of the people attending those sessions have been there since the doors first opened.

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Rather than celebrating short-term transformations, P1 marks the less glamorous (but arguably more meaningful) milestones: members receive T-shirts when they reach 100, 250, and 500 training sessions.

That means there are members whose relationship with the studio is measured in hundreds of coached sessions and several years, rather than a six-week challenge.

And over time, the gym has become something more than somewhere to lift weights.

P1 increasingly describes itself as a ‘third space’ for Manchester professionals – somewhere between home and work where people can train, switch off, see familiar faces and feel part of a community.

People train alongside many of the same faces each week, and coaches get to know the people they’re working with.

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There are socials, themed workouts, challenges, member celebrations and charity events to really build that P1 community – for example, members raised more than £1000 for Parkinson’s UK through a bake sale last year. 

The business has also increasingly taken its philosophy beyond its own four walls, working with Manchester companies and corporate teams on strength training and health education, including sessions around women’s health, men’s health, nutrition and sustainable strength training.

P1 has won Best Strength Training Gym of the North West at the National Fitness Awards in 2023, 2024 and 2025, while also being shortlisted three times for the National Fitness Awards’ Functional Training Gym of the Year UK award.

But perhaps the more remarkable achievement is simply making it through the last eight years as an independent city-centre business.

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Since P1 opened, Manchester has had to navigate Covid and lockdowns, the huge shift towards home and hybrid working, and the major redevelopment around Town Hall and St Peter’s Square.

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The city centre around the studio has changed dramatically, but the basic idea inside P1 hasn’t. It’s not just a gym, but a third space with a barbell in the middle of it. 

Find out more and book your first sessions with P1 in Manchester HERE.

Featured Image – The Manc Group

Sport

Etihad Stadium showcases City Hall, the new beating heart of Manchester City match days 

Lonnie Bowes Lonnie Bowes Etihad Stadium showcases City Hall, the new beating heart of Manchester City match days 

There’s a particular kind of Manchester buzz you only get pitch-side. If you’re a seasoned Cityzen this one’s for you – one of three major new hospitality options for your next game day at the Etihad Stadium. 

Tucked in the heart of the new Pep Guardiola Stand, directly behind the goal, we have the brand-new City Hall.

City Hall is built for people who actually want to watch football in comfort, and with a massive 500 capacity hall a stone’s throw from the pitch, it’s a hard one to pass up.

Doors open a full two hours before the match, and that early access turns the day into an occasion rather than a scramble.

There’s time to properly soak up the atmosphere in what is a genuinely lively, buzzing bar, and I have to say potentially one of the best I’ve come across on a match day.

Food and drink are where the local flavour really comes through. The street food menu leans into Manchester’s own identity with a modern twist. 

The catering is relaxed and doesn’t take itself too seriously, let’s just say having a chip barm and chicken madras pie on the run-up to a kick-off is my idea of heaven.

Inside City Hall at the Etihad Stadium
Inside City Hall at the Etihad Stadium

Every guest gets an inclusive drink as part of your booking, too. You get to pick from a selected wine, beer or soft drink which you can claim at any point during your visit.

It’s a setup that suits everyone, whether you’re in it for a proper pre-match pint with your mates or meal with your family before a day of making pitch side memories.

The little touches matter too. A matchday programme is a nice, old-school addition in an era where so much matchday content has gone digital. 

And crucially, the experience doesn’t end at the final whistle: with an hour’s access after the match, there’s no need to bolt for the exits the second the referee blows for full-time. You can sit and finish your drink, and let the ground empty out around you instead of fighting through it.

Put it all together and City Hall feels like hospitality done with an actual sense of place. 

Manchester street food, a proper buzzing bar, and one of the best seats in the house, all wrapped around a schedule that respects the fact that match day is about more than just the 90 minutes. 

For anyone looking to upgrade how they watch City this season, it’s well worth a look.

Have a look and make a booking at City Hall at the Etihad Stadium HERE. 

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Featured image: The Manc Group

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