£80m Maguire is worse than Evans

James Shearman

• Updated: 1 Dec 2021 19:17 GMT
• 3 min read

Manchester United captain Harry Maguire is a worse defender than Leicester City's Jonny Evans, according to Liverpool legend Graeme Souness.

Evans came through United's academy before playing alongside club legends Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand in the first-team, until his sale in 2015.

The Northern Irishman was deemed surplus to requirements by Louis van Gaal, signing for West Brom as a result.

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Now, six years later, Souness believes the decision to sell Evans was a costly mistake.

One that led to the £80 million signing of Maguire, who isn't as good of a player.

Maguire vs Evans?

Jonny Evans' 131 Premier League appearances for Manchester United between 2008 and 2015, many of which were under Sir Alex Ferguson, have almost been forgotten.

Most notably, the 33-year-old played 23 times in the Red Devils' title-winning 2012/13 season, a truly impressive achievement, yet he never seemed to receive much credit.

But, to those that watched him week-in-week-out, it came as no surprise that he made a success of himself at the Hawthorns, later earning a move to Leicester in 2018.

In fact, Evans partnered an inexperienced Maguire at the heart of Brendan Rodgers' defence that season, in which they actually struggled to a top-half finish.

And it was that season's performance, alongside an admittedly excellent run of games at the World Cup, that strangely paved the way for Maguire's move to Old Trafford.

So no wonder the general feeling around the transfer was one of skepticism, something certainly proven to have been warranted in recent months, as the defender has been nothing short of abysmal.

''The thing you have to get right at a football club is recruitment and since Fergie went it has been a masterclass in how to get it wrong,'' Souness told TalkSPORT.

''That's how I see it. You look at the players they've brought in, the players they've sold.

''Jonny Evans was allowed to leave. Jonny Evans is better than any centre-half they have now. I just don't get it.''

And, excluding four-time Champions League winner Raphael Varane, Souness has a point.

Not only is Evans a better player than Maguire, he offers more leadership, and wouldn't have cost United a penny as they already had him.