Harry Maguire 'on course' to be Man Utd's 'Player of the Season'

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·8 de diciembre de 2023

Harry Maguire 'on course' to be Man Utd's 'Player of the Season'

Highlights

Manchester United centre-back Harry Maguire's performances have notable improved during the 2023/24 season at Old Trafford.
The 30-year-old was free to leave the Red Devils during the 2023 summer transfer window but has now found himself named as the Premier League's Player of the Month for November 2023.
Erik ten Hag could look to sell Casemiro, Jadon Sancho and Raphael Varane during the 2024 winter transfer market and reportedly leads the race to sign a £15m star.

Manchester United centre-back Harry Maguire’s turnaround in performances have been “hugely admirable”, as journalist Dean Jones drops a claim on the defender’s chances of winning the club’s 2023/24 Player of the Season award at Old Trafford.

Erik ten Hag will be delighted that he has finally got a tune out of the ex-Red Devils captain after being chastised by the media throughout 2023.

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Man Utd have endured a mixed start to the 2023/24 Premier League season but hope to have finally got a tune out of their expensively assembled starting lineup heading into the busy Christmas period of the campaign. Maguire hopes to continue to impress and establish himself as one of United’s key players heading into the 2024 winter transfer window.

Maguire’s turnaround at Man Utd

Maguire, who signed for Manchester United from Leicester City in a deal worth £80m during the 2019 summer transfer window, has enjoyed some turnaround in his fortunes since the recent market. Having been stripped of the Red Devils' captaincy in favour of Bruno Fernandes, the 30-year-old may have felt that his time at Old Trafford was coming to an end. Towards the end of the 2023 summer transfer window, West Ham United’s £30m deal to sign Maguire fell through, with the experienced defender hoping to remain in Manchester to fight for his place.

The experienced Man Utd defender initially found opportunities hard to come by but was offered the chance to stake a claim in the team following injuries to Raphael Varane and Lisandro Martinez. That came after a disastrous international break in September, where Maguire scored an own-goal in England’s 3-1 victory in Scotland, with his mother coming out to defend him from the criticism in the national media.

However, the former Hull City defender slowly regained his form and established himself as one of Man Utd’s key players during the autumn months of the 2023/24 season. Maguire even found himself named as the Premier League’s Player of the Month for November 2023, hinting that his turnaround in performances has been recognised across the top flight.

Jones told GIVEMESPORT in October that Maguire has had an ‘unbelievable redemption arc’ throughout the 2023/24 season, having initially been pushed onto the unwanted list at Old Trafford. The defender has now nailed down his place in ten Hag’s starting lineup and would be unfortunate to find himself dropped from the team, even when Martinez joins Varane in returning to full fitness.

Dean Jones on Maguire

Jones says he’s “hugely impressed” with Maguire and thinks he could be on course to earn Man Utd’s Player of the Season award for the 2023/24 campaign. The journalist reveals that he admires the leadership he’s showing at Old Trafford, and the headspace he has got himself into has been “hugely admirable.” Jones told GIVEMESPORT:

“I’m hugely impressed with Maguire. We might be on course for him to become Man Utd’s Player of the Season. I’m impressed with the performances he's putting in and the leadership he’s showing. At Newcastle, there was that phase of the game where Maguire was making the challenge, the follow-up challenge, and the clearance. It’s been an incredible turnaround for him, and the headspace that he's shown that he can get himself into to turn this around is hugely admirable.”

Man Utd transfer news on Casemiro, Sancho and Varane

According to The Independent, Manchester United are open to offers for Casemiro, Jadon Sancho and Varane during the upcoming 2024 winter transfer market. The trio are available for transfer, though ten Hag will be flexible with other squad members as he looks to hone his squad to ensure it’s fully committed to his approach.

The need for a clear-out has been a long-term issue, though only some available for transfer are seen as having a problem with ten Hag. Casemiro, for example, was irreplaceable for Man Utd during the 2022/23 season, but his form has declined across the 2023/24 campaign, with the Brazilian representing a different type of midfielder to what ten Hag wants.

Maguire and Scott McTominay had been up for sale during the 2023 summer transfer market, but ten Hag appreciates how important the duo have been for Man Utd in the following months and is unlikely to sanction the pair’s departure.

Meanwhile, journalist Pete O’Rourke has revealed in his Football Insider column that Manchester United and Newcastle United lead the race for VfB Stuttgart striker Serhou Guirassy. The 27-year-old’s £15m release clause makes him an attractive prospect for Premier League outfits, and the duo are not put off by the fact he will travel to the African Cup of Nations with Guinea in January 2024.