Can Harry carry Manchester United to Premier league glory?

Harry Maguire - Tactical Profile

Will he solve United's Defensive problems?

Its no secret now that Manchester United want England world cup star and Leicester city defender Harry Maguire to boost their lack luster defence which probably costed them atleast the FA cup.

Jose Mourinho is determined to make Maguire his fourth signing of the summer after midfielder Fred, right back Diogo Dalot and goalkeeper Lee Grant and has told the club’s executive vice-chairman, Ed Woodward, he wants a deal completed before the close of the transfer window on August 9.

But Leicester, who travel to Old Trafford for the opening match of the new Premier League season a day after the window closes, are thought to be reluctant to sell Maguire and are still hoping to persuade the 25-year-old to sign a lucrative new contract.

The 2016 Premier League champions are loathe to lose another big player following Riyad Mahrez’s £60 million move to Manchester City just over a fortnight ago and are not under any financial pressure to sell the defender, whom they consider central to next season’s plans.

Maguire’s stock is also at an all-time high after his impressive showings for England at the World Cup finals in Russia this summer and it means United may have to offer at least £70 million to stand any chance of prising the centre-half from Leicester, an eye-watering sum for a player who cost the Midlands club £17 million from Hull City last summer.
Maguire, who has four years left on his existing deal with Leicester, is understood to be intrigued by the prospect of a move to Old Trafford but he is known to be happy at Leicester and is not expected to agitate for a move in the way Mahrez did.
United are thought to be willing to pay around £60 million with add ons for Maguire after Mourinho prioritised the signing of another centre-half, although the Portuguese is under pressure to offload one of the five central defenders already on the club’s books.

Victor Lindelof and Eric Bailly, two Mourinho recruits, are expected to stay for now but the futures of Chris Smalling, Phil Jones and Marcos Rojo are unclear.

Maguire played every minute for Leicester city this season and was a key part of their defense.Let us first look at his stats this season

Maguire stats vs Smalling stats

Maguire scored 2 goals and assisted another 4.Smalling on the other hand scored 4 goals but assisted none.On the defensive hand Smalling record looks impressive at first with 1.4 tackles and 2.2 interceptions per game compared to Maguires 1.7 tackles and 1.3 interceptions per game.But Smalling has played only 28 games compared to Maguires 38 mostly against smaller oppostions.

On the offensive side,Maguire's stats are far better than Smalling.His ability to play from the back helped England immensely in the world cup.Maguire can carry the ball out of defense which helps to free a midfielder,thus giving his team number advantage in midfield.He also made 0.47 key passes per game compared to Smalling's 0.2

Maguire is also more composed on the ball as compared to Smalling completing 1.3 dribbles per game as compared to Smalling's 0.4.Magurie completed 4.6 accurate long balls and and mispalced 4.4 long balls per game.Smalling stats are not good here as he completed only 1.5 AccLB per game and his failure rate is high at 2 InAccLB per game. Both have equal aerial strengths though short passing is an area where Smalling is better than Maguire.But this could also be attributed to the fact that Smalling's team has better players to receive the pass as compared to Maguire.

Conclusion:

Maguire is better than Smalling on either sides of the game,but Smalling can provide him a tough competition.It all depends whether Mourinho can splash 65 million euro on Maguire to lure him away from KING POWER stadium.But United will more likely sign Toby Alderweireld who is available at a cheaper price and is vastly experienced afterall you don't go 10 games without a yellow card unless you are Toby Alderweireld.