Omar Berrada: Man United's New CEO's Old Comments About Maguire During His Time at Man City Emerge

• Manchester United and rivals Man City were both interested in signing Harry Maguire in 2019
• However, the Cityzens gave up on pursuing the centre-back, with United paying £80m for him
• Berrada has disclosed that City backed down because they believed Maguire was not worth the fee

New Man United CEO Omar Berrada's old comments about embattled defender Harry Maguire have emerged.

Berrada was appointed to the influential Old Trafford role over the weekend after his departure from Manchester City.

According to Sports Illustrated, Berrada had been City's chief of football operations since 2020 and previously served as the club's group commercial director and director of partnership sales.

United announced in a statement that the incoming CEO took up the role after resigning at the Etihad Stadium.

Fans have been keen to dig up Berrada's old stances on a couple of issues, with some stumbling upon tweets made by the football chief trolling the Red Devils.

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Berrada's thoughts on Harry Maguire

The 46-year-old's stance on Man City signing Maguire back in 2019 is one of the other key aspects that has come to the fore.

City and United were embroiled in a transfer battle for the Englishman before the former gave up the chase to allow the Red Devils to land him for a £80m deal from Leicester City.

While reflecting on the failed transfer bid for Maguire, Berrada disclosed that City refused to be rushed into buying Maguire because they felt he was not worth the £80m that United paid for him.

The English champions went on to sign Ruben Dias from Benfica a year later, forking out £65m.

“When you make investments of that type [rushing to sign a player], when you get it wrong it has a significant impact over many years, so we needed to get it [Dias’ transfer] right at the right valuation at the right time but more importantly for the right player," Daily Star quoted Berrada saying in 2020.

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“In the same way that we didn't rush into buying a centre-back last season after not wanting to sign Maguire for that valuation, this summer we had a very clear idea of what we wanted and fortunately we got the player we wanted at the valuation that we wanted," he added.

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Sports Brief also previously reported on Maguire offering ten Hag the secret he believes will see Manchester United return to winning ways.

United had endured a difficult week that saw them draw 3-3 with Galatasaray in the Champions League before losing 1-0 to Newcastle United.