Maguire overtakes Van Dijk as world’s most valuable defender
Like the saying of former Manchester United Boss, Sir Alex Ferguson; “Attack wins you games, but defence wins you titles.” Some seasons back, defenders were relatively undervalued and underpriced compared to their attacking counterparts, though those days are now gone.
Big clubs are now spending ever-increasing amounts on defenders.
Every season, football players get more expensive with the highest transfer record getting broken like almost every season; big clubs trying to bring in a striker, winger or midfielder who can get them an average of 40-50 goals a season or a superstar who can do both.
Rarely will a big club spend big money for defenders, though some of the big clubs in the Premier League have been spending huge amounts of money on defenders.
Here are the five most expensive defenders in the English Premier League (EPL). Harry Maguire (£80m)
Manchester United have just eclipsed Liverpool’s world record fee for a defender after reaching an agreement to sign Harry Maguire from Leicester for £80m, a world record fee for a defender in EPL.
The 26-year-old is expected to completehismedicalthisweekend.
Maguire made 69 Premier League appearances for Leicester after joining from Hull City in 2017.
The deal means Maguire becomes the world’s most expensive defender, eclipsing the £75m Liverpool paid Southampton for Virgil van Dijk in January 2018.
There is no question that Maguire is an excellent footballer, he’s strong in the air and leads from the back so will improve United’s leaky and shaky backline but that is an extraordinary amount of money to pay for him.
Virgil van Dijk (£75m)
Van Dijk became the most expensive defender in Premier League history in the 2018 January transfer market when Liverpool spent big to help sort out their shaky defence.
Liverpool tried signing him in the summer window, but Southampton managed to keep hold of him for another 6 months.
Van Dijk displays were enough to earn Liverpool a Champions League success in June, also a PFA Player of the Year, becoming just
the third defender in the Premier league history to receive the prestigious honour.
Doubts over Van Dijk’s fee have now been forgotten, the defender set to play a key role in Liverpool’s 2019/2020 season. Aymeric Laporte (£57m)
Manchester City had been seeking a long-term replacement for Vincent Kompany, deciding on a move for the elegant defender to partner John Stones in defence.
Since arriving at the Manchester City from Athletic Bilbao for
£57 million, Laporte has established himself as one of the Premier League’s finest, with his ability to move the ball forward and accurate passing making him suited to Pep Guardiola’s style of play.
The French man helped City to back-to-back Premier League titles and an unprecedented domestic treble; Laporte’s move to Manchester City has been vindicated. Benjamin Mendy (£52m)
Benjamin Mendy’s time in Manchester City has been mixed, with the former Monaco player having been blighted by injury problems. When fit, he has shown his quality, making trademark powerful runs and netted five assists from just 10 Premier League appearances in 2018/19.
An ever-popular figure at City due to his social media exploits, Guardiola will hope Mendy can maintain his fitness next season after making just 17 league appearances for the club in two seasons at the Etihad. Kyle Walker (£50m)
Another Manchester City signing, Kyle Walker came over to City from Spurs in the 2017 summer transfer window.
He has made a fantastic start to his City career and has been one of the key players in this Premier League winning season for the City club.
Hisfuturewithmanchestercity looks bright for the great right back.