A Manchester United star who is ‘often’ subject to ‘ridicule’ has been named as one of the most underrated stars in world football right now.

For a player to be classified as ‘underrated’, one of a few things generally has to happen. Being overlooked for selection by their manager is one, and being dismissed or even ridiculed by fans of rival clubs is another.

In the case of Man Utd’s Harry Maguire, there’s been no shortage of barbs from the wider football community coming his way during his Old Trafford tenure.

And according to a piece from The Athletic, the ￡80m centre-back – who remains a vital player for both club and country despite now being 33 – gets nowhere near the credit and praise he richly deserves.

The claim came in a wider article discussing the most underrated stars in the game right now. The idea sprung from Trent Alexander-Arnold’s recent claim Federico Valverde is the No 1 underrated star in the world on the back of his spectacular hattrick against Manchester City in the Champions League last week.

The Athletictasked their writers with putting their own candidates forward, with contributor, Jack Lang, choosing Maguire.

“Look, I’m not going to argue that he’s one of the best defenders in the world,” began Lang. “Maguire is, however, a much better player than many (most?) people give him credit for.

“He is good at the unglamorous bits of his job: he’s strong in the tackle, good in the air and constantly talks.

“He pops up with big goals. He is also fine in possession — not stylish, sure, but calm and adept at carrying the ball forward.

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“Maguire gets overlooked – and often ridiculed – because of physical traits beyond his control.

“He has a big head. He isn’t very quick. He’s a bit cumbersome. Fair enough.

“But the 33-year-old has been a reliable, sometimes very good Premier League player for a decade now. He deserves much more praise than he gets.”

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Maguire is out of contract at Man Utdin the summer, but there is a willingness from all parties to agree a short-term extension.

Our colleagues over on TEAMtalk recently revealed Maguire is prepared to take a mammoth pay-cutfrom ￡190,000-a-week to roughly ￡100,000-a-week, such is the defender’s desire to remain a United player.

Interim boss, Michael Carrick, is among Maguire’s biggest backers and has pushed for the centre-back to be retained.

But even if Man Utd go in a different direction and appoint a new permanent manager not named Carrick in the summer, the expectation is Maguire will put pen to paper and sign a new deal anyway.

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