Gary Neville has stated that Man City may regret not signing Harry Maguire this summer, after Aymeric Laporte was taken off injured during the club’s win over Brighton last weekend.
As per Goal, Guardiola fears the Frenchman will be out “for a while” after he was taken off on a stretcher during his side’s 4-0 win over the Seagulls on the Saturday.
And following this, Neville has hinted that he feels City could regret not beating United to Maguire’s signature this summer.
As per Manchester Evening News, Neville spoke about Laporte and Maguire on his Sky Sports Podcast, stating that “If Laporte is out for a long period of time, I think it will cost City points. He is a dominant centre-back. He is a brilliant player, Laporte. I just look at it and think it’s a real worry. Maguire would have been ideal.”
The Metro note that United signed Maguire for a whopping £80M this summer, as the Red Devils beat their local rivals in the race for the England international’s signature, something that could come back to bite the Citizens according to Neville.
Given that City will only have two recognised centre-backs left should Laporte’s injury be serious, Neville may have a point on his views regarding Maguire.
The club let club captain Kompany leave for free this summer, a decision that looks to be a mistake given the potential seriousness of Laporte’s injury.
It’ll be interesting to see how City fair during Laporte’s absence, and whether the Frenchman’s injury will cause them to lose even more ground in the 2019/20 Premier League title race.