In hindsight, it’s rather odd to think that Manchester United, after handing the keys to David Moyes following Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement, felt they had an adequate succession plan in place for the future of their Premier League-dominating backline.
Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic were heading into the autumn of their careers back in 2013 but, in Jonny Evans, Phil Jones and Chris Smalling, United had three of English football’s most promising young centre-halves ready and willing to step into the breach.
Evans, however, would leave for Leicester City just two years later. Smalling’s vast potential went unfulfilled. And, as for Jones, injuries and other issues have restricted him to just six Premier League appearances since the start of 2019/20.
Moyes, of course, had no idea how things would eventually turn out for Evans, Smalling and Jones at Old Trafford. As far as he was concerned, the future of Man United’s backline was in very capable hands.
David Moyes looked at Harry Maguire when at Manchester United
“We had Vidic, Rio, Jonny Evans, Phil Jones, Chris Smalling,” Moyes recalls, in conversation with talkSPORT back in 2021. “So another young centre-half wasn’t the biggest thing we needed.”
Maguire, then an up-and-coming, fresh-faced £4 million-rated youngster at Sheffield United, did register on Moyes’ radar. But, as the now-West Ham boss explains, the England international ended up reaping the benefits of formative spells at Hull and Leicester before becoming the world’s most expensive defender when Manchester United finally came calling in 2019.
“We didn’t try to sign him. But we flagged him up at that time,” adds Moyes, who lasted just eight months at Man United.
“He played against Preston North End at home in a league game. I watched him and thought he played really well.
“(But) Harry Maguire has had to go on his journey. Sometimes the players need the journey to get to where they have to go. He might have struggled then.”
Will West Ham sign Harry Maguire?
A whole decade later, amid reports from The Mirror suggesting that West Ham could come to the 29-year-old’s rescue – stuck on the bench as his United career winds down – could Moyes and Maguire finally end up share a dressing room?
There’s certainly an argument to be made that, with his 30th birthday approaching, Maguire has developed into a footballer tailor-made for life under David Moyes.
If Erik ten Hag wants technically-skilled, ball-playing centre-halves capable of defending high up the pitch, then Moyes tends to demand the opposite. The remarkable resurgence of Craig Dawson – an old-school, rough-and-tumble powerhouse – not to mention the career-best form of Kurt Zouma in claret-and-blue, should raise hopes of similar turnaround for Maguire at the London Stadium.
With Man United fighting on various fronts, a January departure looks unlikely in the extreme. But, with a summer exit more-than possible, don’t rule out Moyes finally getting hits mitts on Maguire, ten years on.
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