SOUNESS: HARRY RIGHT FOR REDS
HARRY MAGUIRE’S recordbreaking £80million move to Manchester United represents great value for money for the fallen Premier League giants.
That is the verdict of Sky Sports pundit Graeme Souness ahead of the England and Leicester City man’s switch to Old Trafford, which will be finalised in the next 48 hours.
The fee for Maguire, 26, is the biggest ever in this country and a world record for a defender – eclipsing the £75m Liverpool paid Southampton 18 months ago for brilliant Dutch ace Virgil van Dijk.
And Anfield legend Souness (right) predicts the
Three Lions centre-back will have a similar impact on Ole Gunnar
Solskjaer’s
United as Van Dijk had on Jurgen Klopp’s Champions League winners.
Which is why the Scot believes Maguire is worth every penny for a club desperate to make a dent into the domestic dominance of bitter rivals Manchester City and Liverpool.
Souness, 66, said: “United will be hoping to get the Van Dijk effect from Maguire.
“Van Dijk, along with keeper Alisson, has transformed Liverpool. They’ve taken them from a team which was vulnerable to a team that isn’t.
“Harry will make everyone in the United team feel more secure. Because they have got a proper player. Whoever signed him was going to improve. At 26, he’s got enough experience and great qualities. He’s got size, quick enough on the ball and he has this desire to win.
“If things aren’t going well, he’s someone who will step into midfield to make things happen. There’s so much to like about him.
“As well as the quality he brings himself, it’s the knock-on effect this will have on the rest.
“Teams liked playing United last year – they were vulnerable defensively. But that has definitely changed.
“Not just because of Maguire’s own input, but the calming influence he’ll have – like Van Dijk – on those around him.”
Before the Kop fear that United plus Maguire equals title challengers, Souness says no way.
As far as he is concerned, United, who finished sixth last season and a massive 32 points adrift of champions City, are a long way off.
Souness, who won five leagues and three European Cups with the Reds between 1978 and 1984, added: “For four or five years, they’ve been scratching around, spending lots of money and it hasn’t worked.
“I still think, even though Maguire will make them better, it doesn’t make them good enough to challenge at the top.”
Graeme Souness was participating in Brighton Pride in association with Paddy Power’s Come Out and Play Campaign. The Liverpool legend took up the role of symbolic ‘boss’ of Proud United – a team made up of LGBTQ footballers from across the nation.