GM, Free Agents. It’s Wednesday of Champions League week.

Welcome to the The Free Transfer— the 5-min daily newsletter making you smarter about football.

UECL Final today. ⚒️ West Ham vs. Fiorentina 🟣 

Today’s agenda:

• Manchester United's New Centerback 🆕

  • Where will Harry Maguire go? ✈️

MANCHESTER UNITED SET TO SIGN NEW CENTERBACK 🆕💥 

Manchester United are finally offloading Harry Maguire this summer. It seems they have already found their replacement in Napoli’s Kim Min-jae. ⤵️ 

The 26 year-old South Korean centerback has a release clause of €60mm that can be triggered starting on July 1st. United want to make him their new RCB.

Since joining Naples last summer, Kim Min-jae has been hailed as one of Europe’s best centerbacks. Just ask his manager Luciano Spalletti ⤵️ 

The statistics 🔍️ 

All statistics below are compared to positional peers in Europe’s Big 5 leagues, Champions League, & Europa League over the past 365 days.

Strengths 💪 

Ball-progression

• Kim is elite at carrying the ball upfield for a centerback.

Passing

• As you can see, Kim has been one of the best passers at centerback over the past 365 days.

Duels

• Kim ranks in the 99th percentile for % of dribblers tackled & challenges lost

  • He also ranks 76th percentile for aerial duel win % (65%)

Weaknesses 📉 

Dispossession/take-ons

• If we were to find one hole in his skillset, it would be losing the ball when dribbling.

• He ranks in the 42nd percentile for dispossessions per 90, and 41st for “tackled during take-on”.

• This is a byproduct of being so progressive in your play from defense, though.

Fit at United 🧤

Erik Ten Hag loves to have centerbacks who are comfortable with the ball at their feet— i.e. passing & ball progression.

• Look no further than his defenders at Ajax (and now United)— Lisandro Martinez & Jurrien Timber. Both are comfortable enough with the ball to be defensive midfielders or fullbacks.

Kim will fit this to a tee, plus he is much bigger (height, weight) than both of them, which makes it an even better match for the Premier League.

Beware of history repeating itself 👁️ 

These stats look amazing right? Guess who they belong to?

That’s right, Harry Maguire.

United fans loved Harry Maguire when he first signed. His hallmarks were ball progression & great passing, while being dominant in the air.

Eventually what had made him popular to begin with “meme-ified” him— trying to dribble & play out of the back. Taking risks in possession to progress the ball can lead to turnovers, & goals against. The structure around Maguire (lack of technically proficient goalkeeper & midfield) was never really there. When Pogba got injured, things got worse due to the drop-off in their midfield’s technical level.

Lesson

Manchester United fans will need to learn to be patient with Kim. He takes risks to advance the ball up the field— in a very similar way that Maguire did when he first came to United.

Thankfully for Kim, it seems that Ten Hag is trying to build a much more technically-proficient team (new goalkeeper & midfielders) to help alleviate the risks that come with this playing style.

Where is Maguire going? ✈️ 

Harry Maguire has been linked to many Premier League clubs ahead of the summer transfer window.

The two that he has been consistently linked with are Tottenham & Aston Villa. Both clubs will need new centerbacks in order to rebuild or continue building on their solid foundations.

Aston Villa

Maguire would pair well with his fellow England international, Tyrone Mings. Unai Emery will need both quality & depth in the center of defense as Villa will be playing in the UECL next season.

Maguire’s passing, ball progression, & physical abilities would help develop an already strong defense into an even stronger one.

Tottenham

With the appointment of new manager Ange Postecoglou, Spurs will look to back him with quality. They will also look to appease Harry Kane, who has been rumored to want to leave this summer.

It is thought that a move for Maguire would delight Harry Kane. The two have been international teammates for 7 years now.

Maguire could improve Spurs’s backline which is severely lacking in technical quality. Current options at centerback for Spurs are Romero, Eric Dier, & Davinson Sanchez.

Harry Maguire could represent a big upgrade in quality for a cut price.

Bottom line 👇️ 

Harry Maguire has had a very tough go of it at Manchester United as we outlined last week.

After Phil Jones stopped playing, United fans & the internet needed a new scapegoat/meme to explain United’s woes. Harry Maguire has been that guy.

Maguire could turn that image around with a move to either of these clubs, who are both crying out for the qualities that he could bring their defenses. Maybe he can make us remember his Leicester & England performances that made him subject to a Manchester bidding war…

That’s it for today’s update.

Go watch West Ham & Fiorentina duke it out for a spot in next season’s Europa League!

Cheers,

—The Gaffer

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