Manchester United could soon be parting ways with former captain Harry Maguire. The English defender came for a record-breaking fee of £80m from Leicester City but has never been able to justify his price tag. 

According to the reports from Sky Sports, West Ham United are trying to sign Maguire. They have initially had a bid rejected for the former Hull City man but have returned with an improved bid of £30m. Manchester United are interested in negotiating with the Hammers but are yet to accept or reject their second bid for Maguire.

The problems for Maguire have only intensified since the arrival of Erik ten Hag. The Dutchman first removed him from the first-choice playing 11, putting Lisandro Martinez and Raphael Varane ahead in the pecking order. In fact, he even relied on Luke Shaw as a makeshift central defender ahead of Maguire. Before the start of this season, he stripped the English defender from the club captaincy, making Bruno Fernandes the new captain.

With his reputation as a good defender gone and him no longer being the face of United’s central defense, you have to ask yourself, is it the last time Harry Maguire has played for a big club? We break down all the key factors before making our conclusion.

Scapegoat

Regardless of what you think about Maguire as a footballer, you cannot disagree that he has been made a scapegoat many times. Regardless of whether he is at fault for the goal, you will always see the England international trending on social media. 

Some blame is on him because he is responsible for this reputation. Since the start of the 2020/21 Premier League season, no footballer has generated more errors leading to shots than him. So, you cannot blame the fans when they lash out at him. 

However, the fans should also take some responsibility that defense isn’t just about one player or one defender, it is about the entire defensive organization. There is a reason why Manchester United have already offloaded David de Gea despite him winning the Premier League Golden Glove last year.  

For Maguire, we don’t see him playing for another big club like Real Madrid or Bayern Munich because he will just put more pressure on himself. If he cannot convince his own English fans that he’s a good defender, he surely cannot do that abroad. 

Cannot play a high line

The fact that Maguire cannot play a high line answers pretty much why he has generated the most opposition shots off errors. The former Manchester United captain had a fantastic debut campaign with the Red Devils in 2019/20. He was an important member of the backline that kept clean sheets against Chelsea and Manchester City.

However, he wasn’t the same after that season. The 6-1 demolition by Tottenham Hotspur where we eventually drew the line that the England International cannot play in the high line.

Regardless of whether you play in Manchester United, Manchester City, or Bayern Munich, the big clubs always like to play on the front foot. As these clubs always tend to have more possession, their central defenders should know how to play in the halfway line. For that, a defender must have the pace to cover the spaces for the opposition attackers to run into. This is exactly where Maguire lacks as a defender. Maguire doesn’t have the pace to play at the halfway line, so he has been exposed multiple times in big matches.

West Ham United is an entirely different outfit. They like to play defensive football, and that is bread and butter for Maguire. He is extremely effective in the box and also while defending set pieces. Before his Manchester United move, Maguire was a great defender at Leicester City and Hull City for exactly the same reason. His teams barely had the ball, which allowed him to play around the box.

Hence, if Maguire wants to regain his status as a good defender and get the critics off his back, he must move to a mid-table club like West Ham United. It suits him as a player and the club regarding the defensive organization. However, Manchester United is likely the first and only time he will play for a big club.