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Last summer at Leicester seemed to be all about Harry Maguire.
The defender was in supreme form at the World Cup, popping up with a goal against Sweden en route to winning a colossal 5.9 aerial duels across the tournament.
This year, there was no men’s World Cup, but somehow Maguire is still finding a way for things to be made all about him.
That’s not on purpose, but when the likes of Manchester United and Manchester City come calling the lure is nigh on impossible to resist.
United are a team rich in history whilst City’s record in recent years speaks for itself, surely you’d be a fool to turn them down?
Indeed you would in terms of City, for they are a team who cannot seem to stop winning trophies under Pep Guardiola.
But with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s Red Devils, they are still seemingly a team in free fall.
Last weekend, it was reported that they had agreed an £80m fee for Maguire. It’s a price that, if the deal goes through, will make him the most expensive defender of all time, beating the record set by Virgil van Dijk.
What makes it even more incredible, is that Matthijs de Ligt cost Juventus £67.5m. This is a defender who has quickly become one of the best young players in Europe, captaining Ajax as a teenager to the Champions League semi-finals.
Maguire hasn’t captained his side, nor has he reached the latter stages of a continental competition. What he has reached, though, is the World Cup semi-final and it’s in Russia where he truly made his name.
Fast forward a year and the speculation that initially claimed he could move to United is still there. However, it now looks like materialising further.
Maguire hasn’t handed in an official transfer request, but the word is that he’s told his club he wishes to leave.
But, in United’s current state, why on earth should he leave Leicester?
The Foxes are a team on the up and the amount of ambition they’ve shown recently should have the likes of Arsenal and United themselves looking over their shoulders.
If they keep Maguire, there’s no reason why they can’t be pushing for European football.
The sky is the limit at the King Power and you only need to look at their remarkable title victory to realise what’s possible.
But the reality of Leicester’s transfer window so far, and indeed that of the clubs close to them, is that no one has shown the level of ambition they’re displaying.
In bringing Youri Tielemans to the Midlands for £40m, it was a huge statement and on that evidence alone, you can see the clear intent and vision they have for the future.
Brendan Rodgers is building an exciting project, one which was added to in the form of Ayoze Perez too.
Having scored 12 goals last term, he’s a player who could prove the difference for a side who lacked goals other than James Maddison and Jamie Vardy last term.
Their ability to bring in Tielemans, though, is perhaps a wide-scale sign that the gap between those in fifth and sixth to those who finish behind is actually closing.
At the end of the day, United’s hopes of winning a league title next season or even beating Liverpool and their Manchester rivals to a domestic cup seems slim.
So why, when you don’t have the guarantee of winning a trophy as you did in the past with United, would you want to switch Leicester for Old Trafford?
The history and the sheer awe of playing in a stadium like that is bound to be attractive whilst the pay rise he’ll likely get from moving will be huge. In that case, it’s easy to see why he’d be drawn in.
But beyond that, is there anything United can offer that the Foxes won’t? Arguably not.
That is both a sad indictment of where the Red Devils are at the moment, but it’s also symbolic of how competitive the Premier League can become behind the two top teams, something that should fill even the most disillusioned of football fans with excitement.
In terms of starting XI quality, the gap between the bottom half of the big six and the cabal of clubs below them only seems to be getting smaller, and the coming season feels like the most likely opportunity yet for the Premier League’s elite group to be broken up by the chasing pack.
Get the latest on Harry Maguire’s potential move to Man Utd in the video below…
For Maguire, this is a big moment in his career.
As a young footballer you dream of playing for the big teams and the 26-year-old could be about to realise that this summer.
Yet, at Leicester there is a clear vision and excitement, there is no negativity, and neither are they are a team filled with some of the biggest egos in football.
At the Midlands club, there is a project that has undoubted amounts of potential and at the centre of it could be Maguire.
Hopes of replicating the success they had in 2015/16 seems far-fetched, but at this precise moment in time, they arguably have as much chance of winning a trophy as United do, and probably a similar chance of qualifying for the Europa League next season.
With all this in mind, aside from historic prestige, what would Maguire really gain from leaving Leicester for United?