Eyebrows were raised when Manchester United splashed £80m on Harry Maguire in the summer of 2019.
The transfer was a world-record fee for a defender, but since then Maguire has delivered consistently respectable performances for United in the heart of defence, offering Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side an assured, commanding presence at the back.
While some may feel Maguire was never worth the hefty fee United negotiated with Leicester, there's no denying the 28-year-old has developed into one of Solskjaer's undroppable players at the club, becoming seemingly indispensable.
To win the Premier League, though, you need two outstanding centre-backs, and with doubts over Victor Lindelof and Eric Bailly's suitability to mount a serious title challenge next term, it seems likely United will need to find Maguire a worthy partner.
Solskjaer has tinkered with personnel in defence since his appointment, but Maguire's name is always one of the first on the team sheet, and the Norwegian has only recently made his preference for Lindelof to play alongside the club captain clear.
Maguire's reliability is one of his greatest assets, and the statistics reaffirm this conversation with the Englishman set to create United history against Liverpool on Sunday at Old Trafford if playing the full 90 minutes.
Notably, Maguire could become the first player to complete 90 minutes in 72 consecutive Premier League matches for the Reds which would break the current record set by Gary Pallister between 1993 and 1995.
Pallister earned legendary status during his nine-year spell at United playing under Sir Alex Ferguson and for Maguire to break his record this weekend would certainly be no mean feat.
