Manchester United defender Harry Maguire has named Rio Ferdinand as his dream centre-back partner at Old Trafford.
Maguire has made an instant impact since his eyebrow-raising £80m move from Leicester City this summer, with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer finally finding a new leader in his dressing room.
The England international was handed the permanent captaincy after Ashley Young departed for Inter Milan in January. It’s a responsibility that Maguire has thrived with and his performance levels have since risen.
Maguire has been key in United’s eleven game unbeaten run before the coronavirus pandemic put the indefinite suspension on English football.
Victor Lindelof has been Maguire’s most prominent partner in central defence, but the jury is still out with many supporters as to whether the Swede is actually good enough.
However, with Eric Bailly and Axel Tuanzebe also in the squad, Solskjaer has enough central defensive options and should prioritise transfers in other areas this summer.
Maguire has explained how he tried to model his game around United great Ferdinand growing up when asked to pick his ideal partner at the back.
“I think that is a tough question because there are so many excellent defenders that have been at this club, loads that I have looked up to and built my game around,” he told the official club website.
“I would go with Rio Ferdinand. I have always spoken highly about Rio and the way that I looked up to him when I was younger. I tried to model my game around him and I learned so much from watching him, so I will go with Rio.”
Ferdinand won six Premier Leagues and a Champions League during his twelve year spell at Old Trafford, forming one of the best centre-back pairings English football has seen with Nemanja Vidic.
We feel that Ferdinand in his prime would have been the perfect partner for Maguire as he was quick and extremely proficient with the ball at his feet.
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