Rio Ferdinand is begging you not to compare Harry Maguire to Virgil van Dijk
By David Gate
Rio Ferdinand is desperate for everyone not to draw comparisons between Liverpool legend Virgil van Dijk and Manchester United new boy Harry Maguire.
You might naturally want to compare Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk and Manchester United new signing Harry Maguire. But Rio Ferdinand is pleading with you not to do just that.
The two most expensive defenders in the world play the same position in the same league for each other’s fiercest rivals but Ferdinand thinks it is unfair to draw comparisons.
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Express Sport had an exclusive interview with Rio Ferdinand where the former United star wants to down play expectations for Maquire:
“I think it’s an unfair comparison because what Virgil came into was a team that was closer to the top, closer to winning and a lot of the jigsaw was already pieced together.”
But that isn’t true. When van Dijk came in he was partnered with Dejan Lovren, an unproven Andrew Robertson, an 18-year-old Trent Alexander-Arnold and Loris Karius in goal. Plus no defensive midfielder.
Yet van Dijk made Liverpool instantly and significantly better, improving all around him. The additions of Alisson Becker and Fabinho helped the team go from Champions League finalists to winners but it was the addition of van Dijk that saw the Reds leap in quality.
Despite all that Ferdinand would rather you didn’t compare him to the Englishman:
“Inevitably he is going to be judged against someone like Virgil van Dijk because he has gone for more money. He’ll be judged against what he’s done and they’ve now won the Champions League.”
Ferdinand knows what it’s like to be the most expensive defender in the world and so some of his comments comes from the experience of the pressure.
However, we all know that a big part of why he doesn’t want you to compare the two players is that van Dijk is unquestionably better. You can drag up stats that suggest they are similar but everyone with eyes knows the gulf between the two.
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The only way they are truly comparable is their price tags. And that is the only regard that Harry Maguire will ever beat Virgil van Dijk.