Listen, there’s no doubt that when we look back at the Harry Maguire transfer for Manchester United, the final verdict will be that the Red Devils never should have made the deal in the first place.
Maguire joined Manchester United in 2019 for 87 million euros, which was a beyond exorbitant fee. At the time, Maguire was a very good center back who had proven himself internationally at a World Cup, but there was nothing remarkable about him.
Manchester United paid twice the going rate for a center back of his quality, overpaying because he was English and because Leicester City were very, very good at inflating his value.
A fee of 87 million euros is normally what you spend on a top attacking player, and even in this inflated market, it is exceedingly rare to see a center back go for anywhere near this kind of money – and the times they have most often backfire, just ask the normally frugal Bayern Munich.
I bring up this backstory, because it has followed Maguire throughout his career and has shaped how he is viewed as a player. So when he makes a mistake, it is magnified ten-fold because of the price tag he can never shed.
Even now, as Maguire transitions into being a very useful backup for Manchester United and a steadying veteran presence on a young, evolving squad, Maguire still carries the dark mark of his bloated transfer fee more than five years ago.
As transfer rumors swirl around Maguire, the 31-year-old has remained at Old Trafford over the summer, and he will likely stay at Manchester United through the 2024/25 season despite a smattering of rumors already linking him with a January exit.
GiveMeSport.com are the latest to report the “twist” that Harry Maguire is now not expected to leave Manchester United this season, and this comes on the heels of reports that Man United were only asking for 10 million euros in exchange.
Part of the reason for the change in heart from the Manchester United decision-makers may be how low the market is valuing Maguire as a flawed and slow 31-year-old central defender.
He comes with the past pedigree of a hefty fee, but now the market has equalized to where Maguire is no more valuable than any other player of his level. And for Manchester United, his value as a backup center back on a consistently injury-stricken team is worth more than 10 million euros.
So while some Manchester United fans may want to wash away the memory of a megatransfer gone horribly wrong, the reality is that, looking forward, Maguire does help the team and the sensible decision would be to keep him, rather than potentially worsen what has been a long-term injury crisis in defense.
The managing editor of The Trivela Effect, Kevin has 15 years of experience in digital media. He covered Real Madrid from 2019-2022 for The Real Champs as a site manager. His work has been featured in ESPN, Bleacher Report, Yahoo! Sports, NBC Sports, and other major outlets. You can contact him at the site’s official Twitter handle @TrivelaEffect or via the site’s official email thetrivelaeffect@gmail.com.