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Harry Maguire Can Be As Good For Manchester United As Virgil Van Dijk At Liverpool, Says Graeme Souness

Harry Maguire Can Be As Good For Manchester United As Virgil Van Dijk At Liverpool, Says Graeme Souness

Red Devils' new £80million defender was named man of the match against Chelsea on Sunday.

Sunni Upal

Sunni Upal

Graeme Souness thinks Manchester United new boy Harry Maguire can be as good as Virgil van Dijk this season.

The Red Devils splashed out £80m to bring the English centre-back in from Leicester and he was named man of the match in the 4-0 rout against Chelsea.

The mammoth fee eclipsed what Liverpool paid for Van Dijk in January 2018 when they signed him for £75million from Southampton.

Van Dijk won the PFA Player of the Year award last season and is odds on favourite for the Ballon d'Or after transforming the Reds' defence.

And Souness is confident that Maguire will have a similar impact at Manchester United after his opening-day clean sheet.

Speaking on Sky Sports, Souness said: "I would expect him to have the influence Van Dijk has had at Liverpool.

Harry Maguire was named man of the match on Sunday at Old Trafford
Harry Maguire was named man of the match on Sunday at Old Trafford

"I think he's sensational and very much the real deal. I can't believe Man City didn't break the bank for him."

Manchester United conceded 54 goals in the Premier League last season and kept just two clean sheets in 19 matches at Old Trafford.

Jose Mourinho was also full of praise for the defender after his man-of-the-match performance at Old Trafford.

"He fully deserved the man of the match," Mourinho said. "He was solid as a rock and as we know it's very important for a team to have that tactical knowledge, but also that personality and sense of reading the game.

"He also had the confidence to play - he was fantastic."

Harry Maguire helped Manchester United keep a clean sheet at Old Trafford - something they only managed twice last season
Harry Maguire helped Manchester United keep a clean sheet at Old Trafford - something they only managed twice last season

After the game, new signing Maguire said: "It's a great start for myself and the team.

"We rode our luck a bit in the first half. We gave them too many chances and were sloppy on the ball but in the second half we were much better.

"We only kept two clean sheets at home last season and we have really got to make it a hard place to come and score.

Manchester United ran riot on Chelsea on Sunday in a thumping 4-0 win to open their Premier League season.

Virgil van Dijk won the PFA Player of the Year award last season for Liverpool
Virgil van Dijk won the PFA Player of the Year award last season for Liverpool

Marcus Rashford gave them the lead from the penalty spot during a close first-half in which Chelsea hit the woodwork twice.

But Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's men pulled away after half-time in devastating fashion on the counter-attack.

Anthony Martial doubled their lead after converting a low cross before Rashford added his second, taking in a delightful long ball from Paul Pogba before sliding it past Kepa.

Daniel James replaced Andreas Pereira in the 74th minute - and his goal rounded off a brilliant opening weekend for Manchester United.

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Topics: Harry Maguire, Chelsea, Manchester United