Leicester City’s Harry Maguire has been heavily linked to fill Vincent Kompany‘s boots at the Etihad with a rumored £80 million summer switch.
One of the key needs identified to strengthen at Manchester City this summer by Director of Football Txiki Begiristain and Pep Guardiola has been center-back.
While Aymeric Laporte established himself as an anchor at the back for the domestic treble winners, City have been linked with a host of defenders to fill the boots of club captain Vincent Kompany, who left Manchester after 11 years with the club.
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While names such as 19-year old Ajax defender Matthijs de Ligt and Inter’s Milan Škriniar have been mentioned in connection with a summer move to the Etihad, Leicester City and England defender Harry Maguire has emerged as the favourite to end up in Manchester, according to Metro.
John Stones appeared to be the immediate succession plan at the back moving forward, but after faltering form for both club and country, highlighted by losing his place at the end of the club season and disastrous mistakes in England’s Nations League semi-final defeat to Holland, central defense has emerged as an area of concern for the Blues.
While Maguire does carry some key traits that would make him a solid defender for City and a good partner for Laporte, such as a strong aerial presence that would help the Blues defend the cross as well as add a set-piece threat, he is far from a complete player.
Much like his England partner Stones, Maguire’s decision-making when playing out of the back can be questionable and is not as complete of a natural defender as Škriniar or even De Ligt at such a tender age. Therefore, given the comparable price tag for all three players, City should attempt to secure the best player possible for both the present and future, which I firmly believe is De Ligt, followed by Škriniar and finally Maguire.
While Maguire is not a bad defender by any stretch of the imagination, he seems to be the favourite because of his Premier League experience and his status as an English player to keep City below the foreign player quota. While he is a good player and would provide competition for Stones, he just does not seem like the quality of player necessary to take City to the next level: winning the Champions League.
On the other hand, De Ligt has already guided a young Ajax team to the competition’s semi-final stage and defended extremely effectively for a forward-thinking team, meaning he is already experienced in the defensive situations he will experience at City when cutting off the counter-attack. Bringing in a player of De Ligt’s quality is a clear upgrade at the position and will send a message to the other European contenders that City mean business, whereas Maguire is more comparable to Stones when both are on form.
Therefore, if City truly aspires to establish themselves as one of the most dominant teams of this era by winning the Champions League in the years to come under Guardiola, they must strengthen. Replacing the leadership and defensive experience of Kompany will not be easy, and while Maguire is a good player, City needs a great one if they truly want to maximize their potential.