Manchester United defender Harry Maguire is proving Giorgio Chiellini right

When UEFA compiled their technical report looking back on Euro 2020, they said this of one of the centre-backs who made the team of the tournament: “Displayed leadership and a good reading of the game, whether driving into midfield, passing through the lines or threatening at set plays.”

It might feel like a trick on the mind to some that that paragraph is describing Harry Maguire, yet it is only just over two years since the Manchester United man was considered one of the best central defenders in Europe.

It’s worth reflecting on Maguire’s 2021 summer to remember how good he was at his peak and how far he has fallen since. Two years after his starring role in England’s run to the European Championship final, he was a laughing stock. He wasn’t booed by opposition fans, but laughed at, which is arguably worse.

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Maguire picked up an ankle injury on May 9 that year, ruling him out of United’s final four Premier League games of the season. They lost two and won only one of them and Maguire’s fitness was the dominant topic ahead of the Europa League final against Villarreal in Gdansk on May 26. United fans were desperate for their captain to be fit and the defensive performances without him made it feel essential he was.

He wasn’t, but he was still named amongst the substitutes despite not being in a position to come in. It kept the captain close to the group on the most important night of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s reign.

The injury also didn’t keep him out of Gareth Southgate’s 26-man squad for the delayed European Championship. He missed the first two games of that tournament but was still