Hargreaves urges Manchester United to buy Wesley Fofana & Declan Rice

Owen Hargreaves has urged former club Manchester United to splash the cash and prioritise signing Declan Rice and Wesley Fofana.

Many Red Devils fans would like to see a better central defensive partner for Harry Maguire, with Fofana turning his heads in his debut season at Leicester as his strong positional sense and composure on the ball have contributed to the Foxes sitting third in the Premier League table and saw him keep Caglar Soyuncu out of the side earlier in the campaign.

Rice meanwhile would strengthen competition for places in defensive midfield, with Scott McTominay, Nemanja Matic, Paul Pogba and Fred being rotated by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer this season.

The England international will also add leadership experience having first donned the captain's armband for West Ham aged just 20, with his manager David Moyes valuing him at more £100million.

Hargreaves would be willing to stump up the money though and eulogised over Rice on Premier League Productions.

'I think Rice's upside is off the charts. He has the potential to be anything and a lot better... I think he plays within himself at West Ham,' he said.

'People don't realise how big he is... he's 6ft 3in, so he looks like a centre back, but he's actually really good technically.

'I'm not a big fan of players who just play in there and pass it around, you have to stop players too.

'Declan Rice doesn't have to dictate the game for Man Utd, he can pass to the players who can make the difference and be good defensively.'

Hargreaves also strongly recommended that his old employers buy Fofana, even though the Premier League giants have been linked with the likes of Raphael Varane and Sergio Ramos.

'I'd love to see Manchester United get Fofana... he's a Ferrari, honestly,' said the former England midfielder.

'I'd throw whatever they've got left in the bank to get him. He's a fabulous player.'