Maguire to Chelsea is a lose-lose for everyone
Cameron Smith
- Updated: 20 Aug 2022 17:06 BST
- 4 min read
Chelsea have reportedly enquired about the possible availability of struggling Manchester United defender Harry Maguire as Thomas Tuchel looks to strengthen his backline.
According to the Daily Mail's Sami Mokbel, Chelsea are still prioritising a move for Leicester City's Wesley Fofana, but have asked expressed an interest in signing England international Maguire.
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The 29-year-old remains Man Utd's club captain, but there have been calls for him to be dropped from the starting XI after a poor 12 months at Old Trafford. The report details that Chelsea would be open to the idea of using Maguire in a swap deal for Christian Pulisic, with the USMNT player heading the other way.
While Fofana remains the number one target, Leicester are firm in their stance that Chelsea must meet their asking price for the Frenchman. If that doesn't happen, then the Blues could turn to Maguire.
However, if Chelsea were to sign Maguire it would be a lose-lose for everyone involved.
For Chelsea
While the Blues still need one more centre-back addition, to deal with the departures of Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen on free transfers and Malang Sarr on loan, Maguire is not the answer.
The Englishman has struggled to deal with the pressure of playing for Man Utd since joining from Leicester, with his form over the past year of particular concern.
While he's typically operated best in a back three, the system Chelsea use, he simply can't be relied upon in a side looking to maintain Champions League status - he is now too error prone and lacking in confidence.
Furthermore, while Fofana is a young and exciting defender who will provide youthfulness to an ageing Chelsea backline, Maguire is the opposite. At 29, he is still younger than Thiago Silva, Kalidou Koulibaly and Cesar Azpicliueta, but he wouldn't help Chelsea build for the future, which they have done with the summer signings of Carney Chukwuemeka, Cesare Casadei and Gabriel Slonina.
For Man Utd
Although Maguire has lost the faith of the Man Utd fans, he has still started their opening two Premier League fixtures, and with Eric Bailly set to leave the Red Devils, they can't really afford another exit at centre-back.
If Maguire and Bailly were both to depart, it would leave Lisandro Martinez, who is inexperienced in the Premier League, Raphael Varane, who is injury prone, Victor Lindelof, who hasn't been a starter for over a year, and Phil Jones, who has barely played, as their only senior centre-backs. Therefore, keeping Maguire may be a necessity.
With the club already pursuing Antony, Frenkie de Jong and Cody Gakpo to accompany the summer signings that have already come through the door, signing a centre-back on top of that would add more pressure heading into the final few days of the window.
In addition to that, Varane has proven that he isn't a player comfortable at playing out from the back during his entire career, which doesn't suit Ten Hag's style of play. Therefore, Maguire may be needed and unless Man Utd are confident of signing a first-team quality centre-back before Deadline Day, letting him leave would be reckless, even if he's no longer his former self.
Maguire may not be the player Man Utd thought they were signing, but he's more than capable of playing a back-up role to Varane and Martinez this year, and signing a replacement would likely cost a lot of money.
For Maguire
Maguire may well need to leave Man Utd to regain his confidence and form, but joining Chelsea isn't the answer.
The Blues want to sign Fofana and being a second-choice option isn't what Maguire needs at this stage of his career. Furthermore, there's no guarantee he's a starter at Chelsea, which is something he needs with the World Cup fast approaching.
He might feel an Old Trafford exit will help his career, but moving to another high-profile team isn't the answer. If Maguire leaves, it should be away from the spotlight in order to start playing regular football to a high level like he did at Leicester.
