Manchester United

Manchester United

Premier League • England

Manager tips Man Utd player to ‘walk through’ struggles and get back to his ‘colossus’ form

Harry Maguire and David de Gea

Former Sheffield United boss Danny Wilson has labelled Harry Maguire ‘a colossus’ and backed the defender to get back to his best form with Manchester United.

Maguire spent time in the Barnsley academy before joining Sheffield United U18s in July 2009. He soon began to impress coaches at the Blades’ Shirecliffe base and gained promotion to the first team in 2011.

The centre-back made his senior Sheffield United debut against Cardiff City in April 2011, coming off the bench at half time and going on to win the man of the match award.

He made 166 appearances for Sheff Utd in total, scoring 12 times. Maguire helped the South Yorkshire club finish in the League One play-off places twice, though they couldn’t gain promotion back to the Championship.

Sheff Utd sold Maguire to Hull City in July 2014, with the then Premier League side paying a reported £2.5million for him.

After a loan spell at Wigan, Maguire went on to join Leicester City in 2017. He impressed with the Foxes and then became the world’s most expensive defender when Manchester United paid £80m to take him to Old Trafford in August 2019.

Maguire is now the Man Utd captain, while he has also played 48 times for the England national team.

However, the 29-year-old is out of favour at Man Utd after a poor 2021-22 campaign, and some disappointing performances under new boss Erik ten Hag this term.

Martinez replaces Harry Maguire in Man Utd lineup

He has only featured five times this season, having lost his place in the biggest matches to Lisandro Martinez.

Wilson, who managed Maguire at Sheff Utd between May 2011 and April 2013, has now given his opinion on the centre-half’s struggles.

He reckons Maguire will come good and restore his reputation at Man Utd, while also labelling the Sheffield-born star ‘a colossus’.

“Harry’s always been a very respectful lad. He comes from a great family,” Wilson said during an appearance on the Sheff United Way podcast.

“When you speak about what he’s achieved, you’d always hope for that [but] you could never know.

“You always hope someone of Harry’s ilk will achieve what his potential is, and he’s done that and beyond.

Wilson ‘delighted’ about Maguire success

“Harry was never distracted because he know what he wanted to do. In that first season [with Sheff Utd] the opposition tried to affect him but he stood strong. He was a colossus at times. I’m delighted for him.

“He’s going through a bit of a tough time now but he’ll come through it. He’ll walk through that, I hope so anyway.

“He’s still young in footballing terms and I think he’s got the best years in front of him.”

It will be great for Maguire to hear one of his former players backing him to turn things around. The last 18 months have been tough from his perspective, but he needs to brush himself down and work hard. This should help him force his way back into Ten Hag’s plans.

 

Meanwhile, Fabrizio Romano has given the state of play over Man Utd’s pursuit of Atletico Madrid goalkeeper Jan Oblak.