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This article is part of Football FanCast's Pundit View series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent quotes from journalists, pundits, players and managers...

At last, the transfer saga involving Harry Maguire and Manchester United appears to be coming to an end after an £85m fee was agreed between the Red Devils and Leicester - a new world-record sum for a defender.

Maguire will officially become the most expensive defender in history when he completes his medical, but talkSPORT pundit Adrian Durham isn't getting too over-hyped by the whole situation.

He has had his say on the record-breaking transfer, and not every word adds up.

What did he say?

Durham said: "Given where Leicester were, where they finished last season and the transfer window they’ve had, if Harry Maguire does choose to go to Manchester United it’s a sideways step.

“Who knows what’s going to happen from now onwards, but that to me is a sideways step because Leicester could have achieved what United achieved. Not in terms of the size of the club, but in terms of where they’re at. It’s a sideways step and I stand by that."

Silly thing to say

Whilst you can somewhat see where Durham is coming from, moving to Old Trafford from Leicester is quite obviously still a step up.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side finished 14 points above the Foxes last term, who finished in 9th place themselves and didn't manage to qualify for the Europa League via 7th place like Wolves did.

Brendan Rodgers' men have been able to recruit talent like Youri Tielemans and finished the season in fine fettle, but ignoring the history and status of United, the Red Devils could've got a Champions League place had a few things gone their way - Jose Mourinho's awful start to the campaign didn't help, whilst David De Gea's costly error in the 1-1 draw with Chelsea really hit the club's top four hopes hard.

Who knows where Leicester and United will finish in a few years to come. But for now, United are quite obviously a step up for Maguire.

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