How Man City are RESURRECTING Maguire's Man Utd career

Suraj Radia

• 26 Jun 2023 05:39 CDT
• 3 min read

Manchester City are set to make Josko Gvardiol the most expensive defender of all-time but the biggest beneficiaries of the transfer could be their rivals in Manchester United and Harry Maguire.

City are in negotiations with RB Leipzig to sign Gvardiol in a deal that could be worth more than £100 million, eclipsing the £80m United paid Leicester for Maguire in 2019 which broke the world record fee for a defender.

Gvardiol has established himself as one of the finest young defenders in world football, having starred for Croatia in the 2022 World Cup and prompting Pep Guardiola to push for a big money move to make the 21-year-old City’s long-term option at centre-back as well as being able to feature at left-back.

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While United and City’s other Premier League rivals may be ruing the thought of seeing Gvardiol join the champions, a record-breaking outlay would pile the pressure on the youngster, a situation which Maguire knows all too well.

Maguire was considered one of the standout performers in the Premier League prior to his switch to Manchester, with Guardiola even attempting to bring him to the Etihad before United asserted their dominance by outbidding their rivals for the England international.

However, despite a successful debut season, Maguire’s time at United has been error-filled and ridiculed, prompting the 30-year-old to lose his place in the first team and be made available for transfer but relinquishing the title of the world’s most expensive defender could be the catalyst the club captain needs to save his career at Old Trafford.

A record lost and a weight off Maguire’s shoulders

Maguire played in every minute of United’s domestic campaign during his first season as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side finished third in the Premier League with one of the best defensive records in the division.

But that was as good as it’s been for Maguire and he has played less and less in the three season’s since, making just eight league starts last season under Erik ten Hag, having made a host of costly individual errors during his limited minutes.

Each mistake compounded the criticism and ridicule surrounding Maguire and, despite posing a resilient figure in interviews, the defender has appeared nervous and a shadow of his prime each time he steps onto the pitch.

United are hoping to cash in on Maguire this summer for a fee of £40m but interest at that price has been non-existent and the player could feasibly still be at the club next season.

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With United looking to strengthen multiple positions with limited resources this summer, the club could look to keep Maguire for another year in the hope that the off-season break as helped with his mentality.

Equally, with expectations low and Maguire on course to lose his title as the most expensive defender of all time, there will be less weight on his shoulders and more opportunity to recapture his best form.

For City, the potential addition of Gvardiol to a treble-winning side piles enormous pressure on a young player, however the Croatian has flourished in the limelight before and could be a fitting figure to be considered the most expensive defender of all time.