Harry Maguire

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Mr C

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What is the general feeling on Maguire? Would Alderwerield be better?

To be honest I only really know about him because of the WC. I like the way he can bring the ball out of defence, but we would need to lose Jones or Rojo before we get another CB surely?

Maybe Jones going to Leicester?

I think Alderweireld is the better defender, but I do quite like the idea of an Englishman.
 
Leicester signed him last summer for about £17m if we thought he was good enough we should've got him then he'd put in some good backs to the walls performances at Hull in their run in including one against us. Looks a good but not great player and had a cracking world cup but when I watched him at Leicester he never really looked great and you should never sign anyone off the back of a good world cup.

He reminds me of Jones maybe a bit better on the ball but obviously he doesn't seem to have the injury problems Jones has had through his Utd career.

This summer ideally 1 comes in as the nailed on starter and 2 from Smalling, Jones & Rojo go out as we shouldn't need 5 senior centre backs but right now it doesn't look like anything is happening in this department.

Leicester would be asking for Van Dijk money after that World Cup and while he's won me round a bit with his performance at the World Cup I'm not totally sold as a) Utd don't play a back 3 & b) we don't play out from the back so it's very hard to judge him based on his England performances.
 
I definitely wouldn't sign Maguire. He had an excellent World Cup but he's slow. I want us to bring in a CB with a bit more pace about them so we aren't alwways dropping so deep as we can recover. Other than Bailly/Shaw most of our defenders are slow. We need more pace at the back.
 
Jose wants the CB to play out from the back. That's why he bought Lindeloff and why we finished the season playing so defensively becasue our CB's just couldn't do it. He mentiond this post match once. This would mean Pogba could get more forward
 
Jose wants the CB to play out from the back. That's why he bought Lindeloff and why we finished the season playing so defensively becasue our CB's just couldn't do it. He mentiond this post match once. This would mean Pogba could get more forward

If that's the case why don't we just play Lindelof and give him a proper chance he looked good at the world cup and to be fair after Xmas he started to look a lot more comfortable dealing with those long balls but still makes me nervous.
 
Got to give Lindelof a go rather than spending £60m on Maguire on the back of a good WC. If Lindelof doesn’t cut it next season then yeah it’s not meant to be but I think people underestimate how long it can take to adjust to the league. Vidic was very shaky in his first half season with us but we persisted and he’s now a legend. Sometimes got to just have faith in someone rather than saying oh he’s not done so well, let’s go throw money at someone else in the vain hope they’ll be better.
 
I am definitely up for Lindeloff, I have supported him since he arrived and think he will be quality. I happen to think it's time to lose Jones and Rojo and replace them with someone. Then have 4 CB's.

if we had Lideloff/Bailly/Smalling/Maguire or Alderwerield that would be good competition for places.
 
To be honest I'd just sell Jones or Rojo and stick with the 4 we have if we're putting faith in Lindelof 4 centre backs should be enough and we might have to keep someone like Tuenzebe as the 5th choice just in case. Smalling & either Jones or Rojo should be good enough to be the back up 2 along with a developing youngster as the 5th choice.

If they're fit I see no reason why we shouldn't start the season with Lindelof & Bailly as the first choice pair Mourinho has spent £60m on them so surely he sees them as his first choice.

As stupid as it might sound if Shaw won't go I'd try and get some money for Young off the back of a world cup and buy a first choice left back then worry about replacing Shaw next summer.
 
It's a no thank you from me. His passing is decent and he's good on the ball but he's not great at defending which is his main job. He got a lot of praise at the WC but I'll be honest I didn't really see what the fuss was about. Just because he can pass and he can bring the ball out people were really heaping praise on him.

Put it this way... He's no Rio and never will be.
 
After what @IDFD posted in the other thread about our homegrown player numbers if we were to sell Jones, Shaw or Smalling we might need to buy some English talent because the numbers aren't looking good in that department.

Not saying Maguire is the one but we probably need to find some players who can make up the numbers.

I think had we took the gamble last summer when he left Hull then I maybe could have got on board with it but now he's at Leicester and the money paid for Van Dijk just means silly fees of £50-60m. To put that in perspective Barca have just signed a CB from Sevilla who's highly rated with CL experience at £35m, Bonucci is apparently available for a similar feee even though he's 31.

I mean if we swapped Jones & Rojo for Maguire I think our squad is stronger but I'm not sure if it makes it strong enough to go for a title plus I think that back 3 England played at the world cup really suited him.
 
I'd be more than happy to swap Jones and Rojo for Maguire.
 
My only concern really is we'd be swapping two 7 out of 10 centre backs for another 7 out of 10 centre back.

I'm not convinced Maguire is better than what we already have the only thing with him is he doesn't look like he's injury prone so he'd be more reliable but that's not exactly setting the bar high for our players.

I think if we're buying a centre back this summer he has to be coming in as the best centre back at the club we don't need a 2,3,4 or 5 we need a 1st choice nailed on starter every week we've got enough squad players and at a top club that's what I think Maguire would end up being.
 
£65m fee being reporting in the papers today.

If we pay that our scouts want shooting he was 1/3 of that last summer when Leicester signed him.

Again not sure he improves our starting line up so see no point in buying him when we already have 5 first team CBs and none of them look like leaving any time soon.
 
I want no part of that. Complete rip off because he's British.

England International
Man Utd
Buying from another PL team

That’s a full house in terms of taking the p*ss transfer fee.

I mean if he’s 65m then Jones is 40m which is just crazy talk.

The sooner clubs realise jacking up the prices means everyone loses the better.
 
So according to Sky Sports we have made an approach for Maguire. £65m will get the job done I guess but sheesh that money though.

If it does happen then one of our centre backs is surely for the chop. I am guessing Rojo or Jones.
 
Please be Jones!

Maguire would certainly make a difference back there. I'd like to see Maguire and Bailly or as a 3 with Lindelof in there. We don't need to worry about crap full backs then!
 
JUST IN FROM SKY SPORTS

Manchester United have offered Phil Jones, Chris Smalling & £20m for Harry Maguire. LCFC have rejected the offer, they only want the £20m :D
 
Please be Jones!

Maguire would certainly make a difference back there. I'd like to see Maguire and Bailly or as a 3 with Lindelof in there. We don't need to worry about crap full backs then!

I'd like us to try that too
 
One thing about Maguire is that he’s a beast at set plays, he causes so many problems in there with flick ons or generally just being a nuisance. However £65m would be a lot but hey who cares, it’s not our money and if Jose thinks he’s a man who can continue to develop and aid us then I’m up for it.

It’s amazing how much transfer fees are sky rocketing though. But you can still get value for money if you have a good scouting system and take a chance on players. Just seen that Newcastle have signed Schar for £3m, now that’s a steal of a deal when you look at guys like Maguire could be going for £65m.
 
Oh good grief... Maguire really? £65m really? That is where our team is at now is it? This isn't a signing that pushes us closer to the title. He's a good defender but he's not world class. He's good on the ball but he's not great. He brings the ball out of defense so I'll give him credit for that but he's no Rio. I mean honestly even ignoring the transfer fee being quoted I wouldn't want him.
 
I was impressed with him at the WC. I'm up for buying good English players. I'd rather him than Alderweireld.
 
With you on that. He's improved season on season and he could just be our next Vidic. What he did at the WC was not a flash in the pan, he's been doing it at Leicester all last season!

Knowing Jose tho it's a smokescreen to get Spurs to drop their cost on Alderwireld
 
1 season with Utd could see him WC.

I don't think so bud. He's a good but not great CB. He's positive in that he does bring the ball out but he's not fantastic at it, there are just few defenders that do it so he earns rave reviews because of it. He isn't worth that kind of money that's for sure.
 
He's never worth that amount of money but in todays market who knows what anyone's worth anymore. I'm thinking about signing for Dorking Wanderers. They could probably sell me on for a few mil in todays market!
 
He's never worth that amount of money but in todays market who knows what anyone's worth anymore. I'm thinking about signing for Dorking Wanderers. They could probably sell me on for a few mil in todays market!

No player is worth the money that's paid of course. But even in this crazy market Maguire just isn't worth that kind of money. He doesn't have WC potential, not in my opinion.
 
He's never worth that amount of money but in todays market who knows what anyone's worth anymore. I'm thinking about signing for Dorking Wanderers. They could probably sell me on for a few mil in todays market!

:)

I used to go and watch Dorking FC at Meadowbank

edit

just read they went in admin :-(
 
Dorking FC and Dorking Wanderers are merging. There is a new stadium at Meadowbank. Opened last week. The new home of the Surrey FA. Got two bars a soft play area a cafe and hoping to bring a lot more foot traffic to Dorking. Tickets for people that live with in a mile of the stadium are half price. Few of us are going to start going down there.

They've been really good with the Charity work i've been doing and are allowing us to use the meeting area in the Stadium free of charge.

Sorry for the off topic just thought i'd post an update to someone whose moved abroad since he used to be in the area.

open%20day-crop-u265775.jpg
 
Nice, they used to do free entry at half time, I used to take my daughter there when I was meant to be going to the swings :) She was too young to care.

I liked going to the local team to watch.

I guess the huge supermarket they wanted to build down there get dumped because of all the opposition.
 
I'm a fan of Maguire but he's not what we need. He's a signing you'd make to play alongside an established top class defender. We've got a group of good but not great defenders. Rojo looks likely to go while Smalling and Jones could maybe improve playing alongside a top class CB rather than together. Bailly and Lindelof are talented young defenders and would benefit in their development from playing alongside someone of a high level. Alderweireld even at 29 fits the bill better but there are doubts over his recent injury record though while Maguire played every single league game last season. Having sold Mahrez for big money, Leicester can demand what they want though.
 
Harry Maguire to Manchester United: Is the Leicester defender the man to fix their defence?

Manchester United are interested in signing Harry Maguire from Leicester, according to Sky Sports News. The England centre-back shone at the World Cup but is he the answer to United's defensive problems?

It is only two years since Harry Maguire was considering his future at Hull City having been unable to hold down a starting spot during their promotion-winning Championship campaign. There was interest from Middlesbrough and even talk of a transfer request. Hull rated him highly but would they give him the playing time he wanted in the Premier League?

Maguire was 23 at the time and could not have imagined the trajectory his career was about to follow. The decision to stay at Hull was vindicated as he earned a £17m move to Leicester City the following summer, and a year on from that he is a World Cup semi-finalist and a £65m transfer target for Jose Mourinho's Manchester United.

United face a major challenge to convince Leicester to sell, but there are other questions to consider too. Is Maguire the right man to reinforce Mourinho's defence? And is he ready for another step up? Nick Wright takes a look with help from Michael Appleton, who worked with him closely as Leicester's assistant manager last season.

Aerial prowess

One area in which Maguire would undoubtedly help United is in the air. 'Slabhead', as he is affectionately nicknamed by team-mates at both Leicester and England, stands at 6ft 4ins and offers formidable aerial strength in both boxes.

It's an attribute Mourinho values highly. From John Terry and Didier Drogba at Chelsea to Paul Pogba and Romelu Lukaku at Manchester United, the Portuguese has always shown a preference for physically imposing players who can dominate their opponents with and without the ball. At United, eight of his 11 signings so far have been at least six feet tall.

Maguire certainly fits the bill in that regard, and never has his ability in the air been more apparent than during England's World Cup campaign. The Leicester man was a revelation in Russia, winning more aerial duels (54) than any other defender in the tournament.

He was one of the main reasons why England were so effective from set pieces. Maguire seemed to get his head to practically everything, scoring from a header against Sweden and having more penalty-box efforts on goal than Harry Kane, Antoine Griezmann or Mario Mandzukic over the course of the tournament.

Mourinho would be eager to harness that set-piece threat at United, who rank a lowly 12th among Premier League sides for goals from corners and free kicks since his appointment in 2016. Maguire, who has scored four times and provided six assists in two seasons in the Premier League, would surely help to make them more potent.

Appleton agrees, but warns that Maguire's aerial prowess means he is already subjected to special treatment by Premier League defenders. "I think the defending from set pieces is much better in the Premier League than what we saw at the World Cup," he tells Sky Sports.

"I don't think the movement that got players free at the World Cup would work so well in the Premier League. But having said that, what you tend to find is that they know Harry is going to be the biggest threat, so he gets looked after by more than one player. Sometimes you use him as a decoy. He might make a run to the near post and free up space at the far post."
Mobility question

Maguire's aerial ability is exceptional but one of the question marks over his suitability to an elite team is whether he is mobile enough. In an interview with Sky Sports last season, Mike Phelan, his former coach at Hull, described Maguire as a "big structure" who has had to work hard to learn how to manage his sizeable frame.

"He had to work on footwork, technique and the physicality of the game," said Phelan. "Carrying a big frame around with you for 90-odd minutes isn't easy. He had to train hard and work at things like nutrition and diet. Once he felt able to manage all those things, his ability began to come through."

Maguire is usually able to keep pace with opponents when facing the same direction, but Appleton admits his size can make him vulnerable on the turn.

"You look at him and he doesn't often get done for pace," says Appleton. "But when people talk about mobility, I think they mean side-to-side, the twisting and turning. He's a big lad, so it's not always easy for him to manoeuvre his body in that way."

That weakness is not often exposed at Leicester, who tend to sit deep and hit teams on the counter-attack, but Manchester United are more likely to dominate the ball and play higher up the pitch, leaving space behind their defence. That's where Maguire, who averaged fewer sprints per 90 minutes last season than every United centre-back except Phil Jones, could run into trouble.
Versatility

Maguire has shown himself to be adaptable and versatile. He played on the left of a central defensive pair for Leicester last season, but Mourinho will also have noted that he shone in a back three for England at the World Cup. Maguire is a tactically intelligent player who can perform in a variety of different systems.

Maguire is even capable of playing in defensive midfield. He was often seen carrying the ball into midfield during the World Cup, but Mourinho will take greater encouragement from how he curbed his attacking instincts at Leicester, learning when to step up and when to play things safe. It's the kind of positional discipline he craves.

"That's one thing we worked on with him, recognising when to step into midfield, because it's different in different games," says Appleton. "When we played the bigger teams we naturally played on the counter-attack, because our opponents had all of the ball, so we would instruct Harry to hold his position.

"But against the smaller sides, he learned to understand that he could play with a bit more freedom. He would step into the middle of the park and one of Wilfried Ndidi or Vincent Iborra would slot back in behind him. He is capable of popping the ball into a midfielder and playing a give-and-go, but he knows when to go and when to stay."

Passing

Another of Maguire's strengths is his distribution. The 25-year-old has a fine range of passing and brings composure on the ball. "That's one of his best attributes, I think," says Appleton. "I think the reason he is so calm on the ball is because he is so calm as a character. It takes a lot to ruffle his feathers and get him wound up."

Maguire is capable of building attacks from deep but the statistics suggest he would have to adapt his style if he were to join Manchester United. While Maguire completed just 78.4 per cent of his passes for Leicester last season, none of United's centre-backs completed less than 82 per cent, with Jones and Victor Lindelof completing more than 90 per cent of theirs.

It is partly down to Leicester's more direct approach, but Mourinho would demand a similar level of efficiency from Maguire at United, and he can take encouragement from how the Leicester man adapted for England at the World Cup. Over the course of the tournament with Southgate's side, Maguire completed 88.8 per cent of his passes.

Maguire is capable of finding the feet of midfielders and forwards in attacking positions, but he is also capable of picking out team-mates from long-range. Last season, he completed more than three times as many accurate long passes (173) than any United centre-back. It's a weapon which could be useful to Mourinho.

It is not difficult to see why Mourinho is interested in Maguire. Buying off the back of a World Cup campaign is a historically risky strategy, but his performances in Russia provided another example of his ability to take new challenges in his stride.

His aerial ability, composure and distribution could improve United, but his mobility is potentially problematic, and there are also question marks about his relative inexperience. After only two full seasons as a Premier League player, is Maguire ready to step into Manchester United's defence?

Conclusion

"I think Leicester will do their absolute utmost to make sure he stays there this year and I think that would be a good decision for him," says Appleton. "He's only had two seasons in the Premier League and it wouldn't do him any harm to have another one with Leicester.

"The reality is that the Leicester owners are very ambitious. They have won the title already and they believe they are capable of competing with the top teams on a regular basis. If Harry is going to be in and around the top eight, then he's still at an age where there is plenty of time to work his way further up the ladder in the future.

"As for whether he could play for a team like United now, it's a difficult one. If you had asked me two years ago I probably would have said I couldn't see it, but that's because he had never really had the opportunity to play in the Premier League. That's the thing with a lot of players, you never really know until you give them the opportunity."

Mourinho, it seems, is willing to take that gamble.

Sir Alex always emphasized that the first step in building a team is the defense. This is what City did last summer and what Liverpool have been doing this winter and during the current transfer window. Everyone agrees that United's defense need strengthening, but nobody can say that Maguire is the player United need.

Now, I think the first step is to compare him to our current crop of defenders. I'd say that, when in form, Bailly and Lindeloef are way better than Maguire. Sure, both have been rather poor last season, but that's another topic. I would say Maguire is marginally better than Smalling, Jones and Rojo when they are in form, something we have not witnessed for quite some time. I believe we have a good set of defenders who have performed poorly in the previous season, so overall Maguire is not an upgrade to what we currently have.

The second step is to compare Maguire to top previous defenders that have played for United. Nobody can argue that the likes of Vidic, Ferdinand and Stam were a class or two above Maguire. I'd say the latter is on the same level as Wes Brown or Gabriel Heinze.

The third step is to compare Maguire to defenders from other top European teams. He's nowhere near Ramos, Varane, Pique or Chiellini.

So, the bottom line, if United are really looking to improve the defense and mount a serious title challenge, Maguire is not the player we need and especially not at this ridiculously inflated price.
 
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Payrise and protect their asset. Didn’t he only sign last season? So would have had 3 years remaining probably
 
Yeah signed a 5 year deal to join then in 2017 think they’re just recognising his progression and tying him down they’re very good at getting players tied down they pay very well. Once you sign though you are sold on their terms something Mahrez found out.

Think he’d need to have a real stand out season for Utd to go back again.
 
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