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This time final yr, Manchester United accepted a bid from West Ham United to half methods with Harry Maguire.
United’s most costly defender appeared misplaced at Previous Trafford, falling down the pecking order underneath Erik ten Hag, who had already stripped him of the captaincy.
Nonetheless, Maguire by no means pushed for an exit and managed to remain, and with a number of strong performances through the 2023/24 marketing campaign, he seemingly managed to vary the emotions of each his supervisor and the United devoted.
This summer season, it doesn’t seem that United are very decided to do away with the England worldwide. Nonetheless, it’s understood they continue to be open to listening to provides amid issues concerning the Premier League’s PSR guidelines.
Additional, having already added Leny Yoro to his backline, Ten Hag can also be hoping to reunite together with his former Ajax man Matthijs de Ligt, and this pursuit could power United to promote one other defender this summer season.
Having mentioned that, the membership’s hierarchy would do nicely to position their belief in Maguire over De Ligt, and within the occasion they appear to herald the Bayern Munich star, they need to look to dump another person to stability their books.
With Raphael Varane gone, Maguire is presently United’s most skilled centre-back.
Ten Hag’s aspect, who’ve ceaselessly struggled to handle totally different recreation states, typically conceding a number of objectives in fast succession, wants a chilled presence in and round their penalty space.
Whereas each Andre Onana and Lisandro Martinez are actually loud and passionate, they lack Maguire’s composure — a trait that made the 31-year-old a dependable and common fixture in each Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Gareth Southgate’s lineups.
De Ligt has Maguire’s management qualities, however his damage document is worrying. The Dutchman missed 20 video games for membership and nation final time period. Martinez has additionally struggled with accidents throughout his time in England.
Maguire additionally discovered himself on the sidelines many instances final time period, however his total profession document is fairly spectacular with regards to availability.
With Varane gone, Maguire can also be comfortably United’s most strong aerial presence. Each Martinez and Victor Lindelof are vulnerable to getting outmuscled.
At 6ft 3in, Yoro actually provides loads of bodily prowess, however he’s solely 18 and shouldn’t be given the duty to turn out to be United’s first-choice right-sided centre-back from the get-go regardless of being a generational expertise.
Media have proven eager curiosity in his switch price, mentioning it even whereas reporting his damage, and they’ll actually be able to pounce on his each mistake.
Within the present squad, nobody is aware of methods to deal with the extreme scrutiny higher than Maguire, who has the talent units and mentality to information Yoro and his different teammates, each on and off the pitch.
Maguire is in body to begin in defence for the Premier League opener towards Fulham on August 16, and will probably be resolution from the membership’s hierarchy if he’s additionally beginning for United after August 30.
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