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Manchester United fans are remembering Harry Maguire's debut and dreaming of what could've been

Home> Football

Published 16:18 3 May 2023 GMT+1

Manchester United fans are remembering Harry Maguire's debut and dreaming of what could've been

Maguire might be a symbol to mock these days but once upon a time United fans were excited by the most expensive defender in the world.

Ryan Sidle

Ryan Sidle

Featured Image Credit: Twitter/MUFC

Topics: Football, Manchester United, Premier League, Chelsea, Fan Reactions, Harry Maguire

Ryan Sidle
Ryan Sidle

Ryan is a journalist for SPORTbible with over eight years of experience. Passionate about all sports, he mainly covers football and F1 - Daniel Ricciardo once spent an entire interview referring to him as 'Ryan Gosling,' still his proudest moment.

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@Sidler28

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Manchester United fans might not be Harry Maguire's biggest fans these days, but they're surprisingly looking back to his debut with fond memories.

No one dislikes Maguire quite as much as former teammate Marcos Rojo, who claimed he was told he lost his place in United's team because of the money the club spent on the former Leicester City player.

He became a world record breaking defender, when he moved from the King Power Stadium to United back in 2019, for £80 million.

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The fee made him more expensive than Virgil van Dijk, and so the expectations were that he'd have a similar impact at Old Trafford that the Dutchman had at Liverpool.

Obviously it didn't turn out like that at all, and nowadays Maguire struggles to get into the first team when everyone is fit, even Luke Shaw has been preferred to him at centre-back at times.

His form and captaincy have both been under the microscope, with club legend Nemanja Vidic explaining that the two things are one in the same.

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It wasn't always like this though, and fans were genuinely excited when they signed him, thanks to his Leicester and England form.

And a video of his debut, in which he won the Man of the Match award, as United defeated rivals Chelsea 4-0 at home, has gone viral once again.

"One of the best debuts I’ve ever seen," one fan stated.

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"He actually was decent that’s the worst part," added a second.

A third explained it was confidence that changed the centre-back, saying, "He looks like a very different player to now

He looked alot more confident back then as well"

"His debut was so exciting . What a way to announce yourself. Shame it fell apart after that," exclaimed another.

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A fourth thinks the know the reason for his downfall, claiming, "Making him captain is what changed him. Ole shouldn’t have put that burden on him."

And a fifth replied, "I really do think there’s a good player in there, confidence is such a huge factor. And online and media abuse doesn’t help."

Maguire has spent most of this season on the bench. Image: Alamy
Maguire has spent most of this season on the bench. Image: Alamy

Maguire was given the captain's armband, that supposedly holds him back now, by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in January 2020, when Ashley Young left.

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Since then there has regularly been calls for him to lose the armband, with both Cristiano Ronaldo and Bruno Fernandes providing the strongest opposition.

On the weekend, the latter of the Portugal stars decided against handing over the armband when Maguire was subbed on late in the game.

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