Sky Sports Pundit Raises Serious Questions About United’s £80m Summer Outlay

Sky Sports Pundit Raises Serious Questions About United’s £80m Summer Outlay

Sky Sports pundit Charlie Nicholas has raised a number of serious questions about Manchester United’s decision to shell out £80m on Harry Maguire.

The defender has been ever-present this season in the centre of defence, but Nicholas has not been impressed with the team’s defensive organisation despite the expensive outlay on the centre-back:

“What has Harry Maguire done since he came in? Has he helped stabilise [the team]? Is there a decent centre-back partnership there? You could see that Manchester United would struggle against Sheffield United because they missed the physical presence of Scott McTominay.”


“‘That’s how low United have fallen… I mention Maguire because they spent a fortune on him. They can’t find a partner for him. They’re all over the place at the moment.”

Nicholas is being a bit harsh on Maguire considering United have conceded only 15 in 13 league games this season. Certainly, the three goals they let in against Sheffield United last weekend was not great but it is not a regular occurrence.

The pressure is on the defence, though, simply because of the lack of goals coming at the other end. If the Red Devils had been scoring regularly, results would have been a lot different at the start of this season.

Maguire can certainly improve on what he has produced this campaign but Nicholas is probably unwise to single him out for criticism.

David Tully

David Tully

David has worked as a football reporter for the last fifteen years. Having started as an intern at Snack Media, he then went on to become a freelancer, working on various different sites. At the start of 2023, he took up his current role as content writer for National World's Football News Network.