Manchester City missed out on Harry Maguire, but with Ruben Dias on board, there won’t be many sleepless nights about it.
Sure, Maguire is a solid defender. He’s the leader of Manchester United’s back four, and a key part of the England setup too.
United splashed £80million on Maguire in the summer of 2019, becoming the latest signing that City wanted too.
Alexis Sanchez and Fred were both heavily linked with City, but ended up going to United either for big wages or for a huge fee.
Maguire could partner City’s John Stones at the Euros this summer, and we almost saw that partnership at the Etihad too.
Maguire has admitted to Gary Neville’s ‘The Overlap’ that he held talks with Guardiola in the summer of 2019, but had his heart set on United instead.
The defender claims he has ‘great respect’ for Guardiola, but nothing was going to stop him from joining the Red Devils.
“I spoke to Pep about the football that they play and what he’s done for the club,” said Maguire. “I’ve got great respect for Pep and the game and the evolution of what he’s bought to football but like I said it, it was Manchester United my heart was set on from the amount of interest that they’ve shown in me.”
“It gave me great confidence and belief but for them to pursue it over I think probably a 12-15 months period of time just shows how much they believed in me and how much they felt like I would be a big part of the team,” he added.
A year later, City signed Dias for £15million cheaper. Does that deal happen if Maguire signs in 2019? Probably not.
Have City come out of this as winners? Absolutely.
