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Surprise skills complete Maguire's transformation
The Independent
|May 03, 2025
"I've always got nicknames," said Harry Maguire. Yet they are rarely this flattering.
A moment of trickery meant "Slabhead" became "Harrydinho", the unlikely flair player in the Manchester United ranks. "I'm happy with that one, that'll do," said Maguire after United's emphatic 3-0 win in Bilbao.
The Maguire shimmy, turning the luckless left-back Mikel Jauregizar one way and then the other, was unleashed against Athletic Bilbao, as if a tricky winger had been concealed in the body of a cumbersome centre-back. A fine cross followed, Casemiro scored and Manchester United led.
It might have been a cathartic moment for Maguire, but there have been a few. Two years ago, United went to Spain intent on winning the Europa League and departed defeated 3-0, Maguire and David de Gea horribly culpable in a capitulation to Sevilla.
Fast forward two years and it was Maguire who took United into the Europa League semi-finals, with his 121st-minute header against Lyon.
It was Maguire who then put them on the path towards the final. It came in a manner that surprised even long-time teammates. “What a winger,” said Bruno Fernandes. “I didn’t know he had that in his locker.”
This story is from the May 03, 2025 edition of The Independent.
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