Harry Maguire statistically is living up to the fee Manchester United paid
Harry Maguire scored his first Premier League goal for Manchester United earlier this month and is impressing in his role as club captain.
He has led a defensive resurgence which has helped United keep clean sheets in five of the last six games in all competitions.
His performances stand up well as far as the rest of the Premier League is concerned too.
Opta stats powered website WhoScored.com place Maguire in their Premier League team of the season so far.
Maguire is the only Manchester United player to feature in the XI, which is based on average player ratings from the season, which are generated from a players’ statistical performances.
Consistency rewarded
Maguire’s consistency is only second to Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk, with his performances standing tall compared to the rest of his peers.
Not that you would know it from the barrage of criticism Maguire often attracts on social media from opposing fans during matches.
That comes with the territory when United spend £80 million on a player, he has shut out distractions and just got on with his job.
Getting the captain’s armband seems to have helped Maguire to raise his game.
Key contributions which are helping Maguire’s performance stand out relate to his strength and reading of the game.
He is averaging 4.8 aerial duels won per game, and 1.8 interceptions per match.
Maguire’s job is not done yet. He needs to continue his high standard of performances until the end of the season.
It was always going to be tough for Maguire with the £80 million fee a potential millstone around his neck. Lately he has been making his job look easy, and is showing that the money United paid was a sensible investment.
If you would have said last summer that the centre-back United chose to sign would months later be statistically in the top two players in his position in the league, we all would have taken that.
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