Manchester United FC were desperately in the lookout of a world-class centre-back at the end of last season. In their quest to get a great defender, United first looked to sign Kalidou Koulibaly of Napoli, with a reported bid of £90m. But the Red Devils saw their bid rejected by the Naples-based club and were forced to turn their attention elsewhere.
United manager, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, has always been a keen advocate of having a British core at his club. Thus United looked for some of the best English centre-backs that were available in the Premier League at that time. The Red Devils had shortlisted a couple of centre-backs, including the likes of Maguire of Leicester City and Diop of West Ham.
Ultimately, Manchester United moved on to sign Harry Maguire, after a long series of negotiations with Leicester City. The Foxes clearly had an upper hand because of the time left in Maguire’s contract and wanted to make him the most expensive defender. And United had to agree, signing Harry Maguire for £80m, which is the world-record fee paid for a defender.
With that price tag came unbelievable pressure but till now, it is safe to say that Maguire has played his part well. Maguire walked into the United side with ease and was slotted in the centre-back position along with Victor Lindelof. Lindelof was United’s best defender in the 2018/19 season and has earned his chance to play with the world’s most expensive defender.
Maguire played his first match for the Red Devils in the first match of the season, against Chelsea. The difference he brought to the United side was evident as he bagged the man of the match award in his first match itself. The England international brought with him the much-needed solidity and strength to the United defence.
Harry Maguire has played in all the 37 games in the Premier League this season and has started in all of them. If he starts against Leicester tonight, he will be the first United player to start in all the league games in a season after Pallister. Gary Pallister started for all of the Red Devils’ games in the 1994/95 season.
Maguire has been an ever-present rock at the back for Manchester United and has enhanced their defence drastically. United no more look easy to score against and are the third-best defence in the league behind Liverpool and Manchester City. The Red Devils have only conceded 36 goals this season as compared to the 54 they conceded last season.
With him and Lindelof, United can build play up from the back are both of the defenders are comfortable on the ball. Maguire can also come out of the back with the ball at his feet and is one of the best at it. The 194 cm-tall defender is great in the air and scored some very important goals for the Red Devils.
He has scored a total of three goals and has also provided three assists for the Red Devils this season in all competitions. Because of his leadership skills and strong personality, Maguire was named captain of United in January after the departure of Young. Under his captaincy, United enjoyed a 19-game unbeaten run, which was catalytic for their position in the Premier League table.
The 27-year old centre-back wins about 4.6 aerial duels per Premier League match and has a passing accuracy of 86.9% this season. Maguire has made two interceptions on an average in the league and commits about 0.8 fouls per game. Even with such good stats, Maguire has one weakness which might cause United a lot of trouble in the future.
Maguire is pretty slow and thus can be easily beaten by quick players, and the issue has been taken up by United. The Red Devils are currently looking for Maguire’s partner in the transfer market. But overall, Maguire has done very well in his first season at United and will be looking to lead the Red Devils for years to come.
