The former Spurs player believes the Red Devils defender wasn’t worth his hefty transfer fee
Rafael van der Vaart believes he can find Sunday league players just as good as Manchester United defender Harry Maguire.
The stinging observation came after the Red Devils let another lead slip on Sunday to draw 1-1 with Liverpool at Old Trafford.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side have kept just two clean sheets in the league this season, with Maguire’s €92 million transfer from Leicester City over the off-season so far failing to have a massive impact for the team’s defence.
Van der Vaart, who spent two seasons in the Premier League with Tottenham, is adamant the Red Devils spent too much on the 26-year-old as he compared Maguire’s abilities to an amateur.
“When I watch an amateur game on Sunday, I find three players playing like him. I’m serious,” Van der Vaart said on Ziggo Sport.
“It may sound silly, but he will not hear it anyway. After all, we’re talking about a €90 million transfer here. Then [Virgil] van Dijk is worth €300 million.”
It’s not the first time Van der Vaart has questioned Maguire’s quality with the Dutchman previously pointing out poor performances for England back in August.
“It’s funny because during the Nations League, I was doing work for Dutch television,” he said.
“And I remember we were saying ‘Harry Maguire was by far the worst player on the pitch’. And then, two months later, €90m.”
Maguire has played every league game for United to date this season and while his performances on the pitch haven’t impressed everyone, Solskjaer is convinced he’s capable of anchoring United’s defence for a long time to come.
“He’s already shown how good he is,” Solskjaer said prior to the Liverpool game. “He shows us every single day but of course in big games you get more pressure at Man Utd, and at Liverpool.
“In the big clubs and in the big games, it’s the ones who can step up. That shows the character of you and I don’t doubt for one second Harry is going to play a good game against them.
“We signed Harry because we can see a leader who can be here for many years.”
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