Manchester United's season has been marred by Harry Maguire's mistakes, but it was not his fault the club bought him.

United were forced to sign Harry Maguire in 2019 even though everyone knew they were planning to spend a lot of money on a centre-back after failing to do so the year before and having their worst defensive season in 40 years.

As Virgil van Dijk had already moved to Liverpool, Raphael Varane and Kalidou Koulibaly were out of the question, while Matthijs de Ligt's representation by Mino Raiola made him a non-starter.

In the meantime, check out United's preseason tour schedule here.

Inter Milan's Milan Skriniar appeared too close to Jose Mourinho, whilst Manchester United's Harry Maguire, an Englishman who played under Mike Phelan at Hull for a brief period, was more connected with the club's goal of signing British players at selling clubs in the United Kingdom.

In the 2018 summer transfer window, Mourinho has considered Maguire, along with Skriniar and Koulibaly. When the deadline approached, United refused to pay Leicester's asking price of £75million for Maguire. At £80m in the summer of 2013, he was still the most expensive player in British football history.

Even though United will be flying to Asian and Australian timezones this summer, it's not the only reason this summer is shaping up to be similar to 2019. The soullessness of Thursday night football is likely to be on the calendar for a new manager as he prepares for his first full season.

In 2019, United's market share was at its lowest level in decades. Though it is unclear how many players will be interested in working under Erik ten Hag, the drop in value should not be as severe in the summer. Their future manager will have a profile that attracts players of some reputation. Mauricio Pochettino has an advantage in that regard, despite his dwindling reputation.

It's possible that he does not. When it comes to football, United has a director of football negotiations, a football director, and a technical director. Their business operations from three years ago were a resounding failure. Daniel James was sold in August, Aaron Wan-Bissaka is a costly failure, and Harry Maguire's walking disaster of a season has made his captaincy untenable.

Manchester United paid too much for Harry Maguire because he hasn't had the same transforming effect on Liverpool and Manchester City as Van Dijk and Ruben Dias. Van Dijk won the PFA Player of the Year award, while Dias won the Football Writers' Association award for the year's best player.

Sir Alex Ferguson backed the signing of Harry Maguire for Manchester City in 2019. When England's World Cup success was at its best since 1966, Leicester sold its top players for exorbitant prices.

When he was gone during the last stretch of last season, Maguire's value at Manchester United was at its highest point. At their heyday, Manchester United's defensive record deteriorated while the Yorkshireman's yells echoed from the stands.

Booing, heckling, jeering, and sarcastic applause have all been directed at Maguire this season, and he has been exposed in front of the world's most watchful sporting audience. United need a new center-back because Eric Bailly and Phil Jones have outstayed their welcome. The captaincy should be withdrawn.

As a result, Manchester United's initial reaction may be to splurge on new players, especially because they are considering Ralf Rangnick based on his high success rate with signing new players. In hindsight, United should have opted for Dayot Upamecano, scouted by Derek Langley, Ibrahima Konate, or a defender of a similar profile: youthful, athletic, cost-effective, and with resale value.

It would have been less stressful for Eric Bailly, and it worked for him for at least one season in 2016. A year later, Bailly's £30 million cost seemed high at first, but his performance and market inflation made him a bargain worth twice as much.

Bailly was a player before he became a balance sheet asset.

Although some United fans have pleaded with the club to sign any star player who has a high ranking on the Fifa video game, officials at the club have dismissed the significance of the social media outpouring. Marcel Bout, Mick Court, and the rest of the scouting staff must show that they are worthy of their positions.

Despite the fact that Bout has been in charge of worldwide scouting for more than five and a half years, the club's success rate is no better than it was when the Dutchman aided Louis van Gaal in the recruitment process. Several of Mourinho's targets for 2018 were blocked by Court, the technical chief scout who oversees the club's recruitment department.

Whoever becomes the next manager may be reminded of Brad Pitt's performance in Moneyball's scouting scene, in which a group of minds congregates and all believe they know what is best, but are persuaded to 'think differently.'

In the words of Moneyball author Michael Lewis, "change is always a good thing, no matter how successful you are." "There will never be a return to the status quo... You must always be on the lookout for new technology. In any other case, you're f—-d."

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer had good intentions when it came to recruiting players who were committed to playing for Leeds United in his first summer in charge, but the only player to sign a contract with the club was James, a curious addition from Championship side Swansea who had signed a contract with the club five months earlier. Wan-reserved Bissaka's demeanor is diametrically opposed to what Solskjaer desired, and United attempted to replace him with Kieran Trippier last season. Maguire saves his most impressive performances for his country, England. That is entirely his fault.