As centre-backs go, there can’t have been many finer to grace the Premier League than Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk.
The Dutchman has been a revelation since signing for the Reds and has surely been one of the major factors behind their Champions League and Premier League title victories.
Nothing seems to faze him, and very rarely do we see him make a mistake.
Man United’s Harry Maguire was signed from Leicester City for a similar fee, but that’s where the comparisons end.
The England international is a solid central defender but isn’t in the Dutchman’s class, and Danny Murphy wants people to get off of Maguire’s case.
“Man United have got to be better defensively, that’s been proven this season” he said on talkSPORT and cited by the Daily Star.
“With Harry Maguire, people just compared the price tag with Van Dijk, and that’s’ not right. You can’t compare Maguire to Van Dijk.
“Van Dijk is a better player in every aspect. He’s never going to be Van Dijk. He’s never going to be that quick, he’s never going to be as good a passer, he’s not going to be Van Dijk.
“But what he has done is he’s made United better and he’s going to get better. United’s defensive record since the restart has been good and he’s been part of that.
“He’s played every minute of nearly every game to be fair to him and he looked a bit leggy against Sevilla, which is understandable. So cut him a bit of slack.”
With a more able partner alongside him, there’s a cogent argument suggesting that Maguire will fare better than at present.
He is captain of the Old Trafford outfit for a reason, and if the Red Devils can recruit as well as their north west counterparts have, then there’s no reason why Maguire can’t spearhead a new era of success for United.
Just don’t expect him to be another van Dijk…