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View: Durham is wrong, Maddison would thrive at United

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OPINION

Adrian Durham is way off when he says that Leicester City midfielder James Maddison would not benefit from a move to Manchester United.

Speaking on talkSPORT‘s Drive programme on Tuesday, the radio host insisted that Maddison should snub the reported interest [The Independent] coming from the Red Devils because it would harm his career.

“I think it would be a ‘head’s gone’ if he went [to Manchester United],” Durham said. “I think he should stay, I think Brendan Rodgers has joined the club and they’re looking up.

“There’s some positive things happening and a lot of it is being based on James Maddison. You go to Man United and recent history suggests you’re going to flatten out as a footballer.

“You’re not going to get better, no footballers are getting better at Manchester United, with the exception – possibly – of Marcus Rashford, and he got better in an instant hit.

“For me, it would be a ‘head’s gone’. Leicester don’t need the money, the move wouldn’t be good for [Maddison]. Every move he’s made, from Coventry to Norwich, to Leicester has been a step up.

“This one is either a step sideways or a step backwards.”

Durham is wrong with this prediction. He is right to point out that every move Maddison has made has been a step up, because the midfielder has got better and better with every transfer.

However, while United are currently seen as the place no-one wants to go, you must remember that the team Ole Gunnar Solskjaer currently has at Old Trafford is not his.

The Norwegian is looking to drastically alter the business plan put in place when Jose Mourinho was in charge, because that is what has led to the current stagnation of the team.

Signings of supposedly world-class players at the peak of their powers like Alexis Sanchez are not what the club needs, and that has been proven. Sanchez did not get any better at United – in fact, he got worse – and he has not become any younger in the process.

Change the policy around by signing young players who are keen to breathe life back into the team, however, and you get a completely different perspective on the club. You get the feeling that a move to United would be another step up.

It may not seem that way for now, with the state the club is in, but give it time and it could work out that way. After all, Maddison is only 22 and he has a lot of room for development.

There is no doubt that Maddison will go on to become a very good midfielder – if he isn’t already one – but the assumption that signing him would see him fall flat on his face is wrong.

Recent arrivals such as Sanchez have only done that because they are not the kind of signings the club needs. If you put a different onus on Maddison’s potential role at United, you get visions of a player who could become even better under Solskjaer.

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