Journalist Carl Anka has recently made a big revelation about Manchester United Harry Maguire’s fitness.
Maguire was taken off in Man United’s recent 3-1 win over Aston Villa and it has been reported that he is now a doubt for the club’s upcoming Europa League final against Villarreal.
Anka talked about Maguire when he appeared on the latest episode of the Totally Football Show podcast and he gave some details about the Englishman’s fitness and the fact that he was taking pain killers quite often in the 2019/20 campaign.
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Maguire set a Premier League record in the game against Villa, as he made his 72nd appearance in the English top-flight for the Red Devils, without having missed a single minute of action until the injury (as per Goal).
Anka said that John Terry was also taking pain killers in a period under Jose Mourinho, but taking them could affect a player’s career in the longer term.
He said (50:25): “Maguire racked up 71 games in a row – I think that’s over 6,500 minutes. We know for a fact that he was taking pain-killing injections towards the end of last season, he had a hip complaint for about two months as well.
“Always bear in mind when a player is taking pain-killing injections, they’re essentially taking off a couple of months at the latter end of their career. I understand that when John Terry was taking a lot pain-killing injections in Mourinho’s Chelsea, he also had some quite serious discussions about whether or not he’d have full use of his legs in sort of the 50s and 60s of his life.
“So it’s no small thing to take pain-killing injections and Maguire has taken a lot last season.”
TIF Thoughts on Maguire…
Out of centre-backs, only two players in his position have won a higher percentage of aerial duels than Maguire this season. Out of centre-backs, only Ruben Dias has covered a higher progressive distance through ball carries than Maguire and only Jan Bednarek has made more interceptions than Maguire out of centre-backs in the top-flight.
That is a reflection of how important Maguire is to Man Utd. While he played regularly for the club, he also boasts some impressive stats. So it is easy to say that United will miss the club captain in his absence.
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