Chelsea urged to sign Manchester United star by Old Trafford legend

Manchester United legend Dwight Yorke has urged Chelsea to sign one of Erik ten Hag’s current crop of defenders despite their injury troubles.

Manchester United started the 2024/25 campaign in a similar fashion to the end of the previous season—worrying about defensive injuries under Erik ten Hag.

On Saturday afternoon, the club faced Manchester City in the Community Shield. The club had no defenders on its bench, and three of the four starters either played out of position or were not first-choice players, with Jonny Evans and Harry Maguire the starting centre-backs.

Read More: Why Joshua Zirkzee did not appear for Manchester United in Community Shield defeat

However, ahead of the tie, various outlets announced that the club had agreed to sign Bayern Munich central defender Matthijs de Ligt and right-back Noussair Mazraoui on five-year contracts, adding to the depth across the back line.

In the face of this, former United striker and club legend Dwight Yorke has called for Chelsea to sign Maguire, explaining that the club should be “ruthless” and get rid of him.

“Harry Maguire could sit out the last year of his contract and know he’s going to play at some point due to injuries, but United really need to be ruthless and get rid of him,” Yorke said.

“They have Lisandro Martinez, Victor Lindelof and maybe Leny Yoro, but Harry Maguire is in the position that he doesn’t have to go anywhere if he doesn’t want to.

“The opportunity had passed to get rid of him because he so desperately wanted to be at Euro 2024, and he would have done anything to play. That was the time to move him so he could get regular football.

“So that opportunity passed, and he’s still there. I think we need to freshen things up at United and bring new faces in, and take the future of the football club forward rather than backwards.

“Having said that, Maguire has shown that he is very capable of playing at the highest level still and elite clubs like Chelsea, who are trying to rebuild, might take a chance on Maguire.

“He can clearly still play at the level, and a fresh start might just give him that injection to really perform again for another year or two at that top level. So you never know.

“I played until I was 36, so I’m never going to write someone off if they’re still in their early 30s. He’s still got the attributes to do that.

“I think players do improve if the team is doing well and winning football matches. Football becomes very easy to play. Football is only difficult when things are not going particularly well, and then you realise who is really good and who isn’t.

“With Thiago Silva leaving Chelsea, there’s a gap there for an experienced player like Maguire to move into.”

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