Leicester boss Brendan Rodgers praised the professionalism of Harry Maguire and admitted he was “relaxed” about the reported interest of Manchester United in the central defender.

United are hoping to bring in a top-level centre-back before the transfer window shuts next month and PA understands the England international is in the Old Trafford giants’ sights.

Maguire played 45 minutes in Leicester’s 1-0 friendly win at Scunthorpe on Tuesday and manager Rodgers spoke about the situation afterwards.

He said: “There’s a value that hasn’t been met yet and my support is to him. He’s a special player and we want to keep him but, of course, time will tell.

“The other club interested is a huge club but he’s a really good guy.

“I’ve been in this position a number of times and it’s never easy but he’s taken part in everything and hasn’t showed anything other than sheer professionalism. You’ve seen that tonight with the 45 minutes he played.”

Asked by Sky Sports News about potential replacements should Maguire leave, Rodgers added: “The club have been very good. If we lose him we’d have a number of targets we’d look at.

“But we’re quite relaxed with him. He’s a top-quality player and no one has come near the valuation of the player to tempt the club to sell.”

Ayoze Perez, who joined Leicester from Newcastle on July 4, scored the only goal of the Glanford Park contest in the first half.