A look at the world’s most expensive defenders following Harry Maguire’s Manchester United move

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By PA Sport

Published Aug 5, 2019

The England centre-half’s transfer fee eclipses the previous record of £75million Liverpool paid for Virgil van Dijk

Harry Maguire has become football’s most expensive defender after completing his £80million move from Leicester to Manchester United.

Here, we take a look at the other top deals for defenders which Maguire’s move to Old Trafford has eclipsed.

Virgil van Dijk - £75,000,000

Eyebrows were raised when Liverpool paid Southampton a world-record £75m fee for the Holland centre-half’s services.

But, Van Dijk has proved an enormous success, helping Liverpool reach two Champions League finals, the latter resulting in a 2-0 victory over Tottenham.

Lucas Hernandez - £68,000,000

The Marseille-born France international moved to Spain at the age of four and joined Atletico Madrid’s junior set-up seven years later.

Hernandez became a World Cup winner in 2018 and he made over 100 appearances for Atletico before Bayern announced in March 2019 that he would be joining them this summer.

Matthijs de Ligt - £67,500,000

The Dutchman joined the Ajax youth academy at the age of nine. He made his Ajax and Holland debut aged 17, quickly making the move from a deep-lying midfielder to a centre-back.

De Ligt played over 100 games and captained a young Ajax side into the semi-finals of the Champions League before joining Juventus a month before his 20th birthday.