Leicester City have signed Harry Maguire hoping to begin a new era under Craig Shakespeare. The talented central defender, 24, was always likely to leave Hull City after their relegation to the Championship, with a raft of top-flight clubs interested. But Leicester made the first move and secured the English man. 

Maguire instead of Wes Morgan or Robert Huth?

Yes Hull City got relegated. But had it not been for Maguire, their inevitable downhill slope would have been much steeper. Morgan and Huth were a formidable pair during Leicester’s title winning season conceding just 36 goals but it wasn’t the case in the 2016/17 season where they ended up conceding 42 goals through open play alone and 63 goals in total. The former Hull city defender can be the man to plug that hole. While Huth and Morgan made 4.28 and 3.41 recoveries per match, the young Englishman made 5.81 recoveries per match.  Coupled with his 9 Clearances, Blocks and Interceptions (CBI) per match, Maguire looks to be the ideal fit at the center of Leicester’s defense.

How can Maguire contribute to Leicester attack?

Maguire scored 2 goals and made 3 assists during his 2016/17 campaign. The most important strength of Maguire is his ability to dribble. Only Mahrez, Albrighton and Gray made more dribbles than him (28 dribbles in total) between the 2 teams. His dribbling skills coupled with his ability to play long balls will definitely help Leicester look more dangerous up-front especially with the likes of Vardy, Gray and Mahrez. Also his ICT index of 5.09 per 90 minutes is much higher than that of Morgan’s (3.01) and Huth’s (3.84).  Maguire managed to play 11 key passes throughout the season which is more than any of the Leicester’s center backs. Playing those passes to a frontline as lethal as that of Leicester’s will certainly yield better results.

What does Maguire’s transfer mean for Draft Fantasy Managers?

Only 2.2% of the Draft Fantasy Managers owned Maguire whereas Morgan and Huth were owned by 30% and 25% of the Draft Fantasy Managers. He was drafted only at the 103rd round. This stat will definitely change in the 2017/18 season as Maguire seems to be central in Craig Shakespeare’s plans. Maguire scored 66 Draft Fantasy points in his 2307 minutes when compared to the 63 points achieved by Morgan over 2430 minutes. The young Englishman is tipped to play a crucial part for The Foxes in the upcoming season and this would certainly mean that the Draft Fantasy Managers should keep him in their plans as the 4th or 5th defender.

Leicester needed a defender who was aggressive and had that huge presence at the heart of their defense and Maguire’s perfectly fits the bill.