Pep Guardiola's cunning strategy on £80m deal landed Man City last laugh over Man Utd

Pep Guardiola proved in the summer of 2020 that patience really was a virtue and has been rewarded ever since. Rewind 12 months before that and the Manchester City boss was eyeing a move for Harry Maguire.

The centre-half had been a standout performer for Leicester and then furthered his reputation at that summer's World Cup as England made the semi-finals in Russia. Those exploits also attracted the attention of Manchester United. The two Manchester clubs had their own motives. For City and Guardiola, fresh from retaining their Premier League title, they needed to try and replace Vincent Kompany. Without him they were light of a world class defender.

For United and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, who was embarking on his first summer as manager, they needed a statement signing that could herald a new era. That motivation led them to paying a world record £80million to land the centre-half - landing initial bragging rights.

Guardiola was left to admit defeat. "He's an excellent, top-class player. We were interested but could not afford it," he said. He added: "United could afford it. He had an incredible World Cup. He's strong in the air, good with the ball and builds it up, he's so fast. He's young. Congratulations to United."

From that season it is hard to decide who had the tougher period. Maguire and United began the season with a thumping 4-0 win over Chelsea but things quickly began to decline and the criticism that has continued to follow the Englishman, began. Overpriced was the most common insult hurled his way.

City meanwhile, hit with an injury crisis at the heart of their defence, found themselves at times playing with Rodri and Fernandinho as their two centre-halves. The failure to replace Kompany was heavily criticised as City eventually finished second to Liverpool with United, who enjoyed a renaissance, ending in third.

Guardiola dealt with some short-term pain but his long-term gain has been immense. Largely because he chose to spend £65m to land the highly-rated Ruben Dias from Benfica. The 23-year-old's signing was offset by the £13m they received as Nicolas Otamendi moved in the other direction.

All in all those on the blue side of Manchester saved close to £30m by holding their nerve and Dias' accomplishments since then speak for themselves and dwarf what Maguire has been able to do, even if the Portuguese centre-half has operated in a winning outfit.

In his debut season Dias helped City claim a league and Carabao Cup double. That included a 13-match run whereby Guardiola's side kept 11 clean sheets, conceding just twice, with their new defender central to everything they were doing.

Gary Neville tipped him for huge honours and Dias did eventually scoop the FWA Footballer of the Year award in his first year. The Sky Sports pundit said: "He’s so young and to dominate like he’s done. I played with Jaap Stam, Pallister, Bruce, Vidic and Ferdinand - each one of those makes the rest of the team safe and Dias makes the rest of the team safe.

"Van Dijk makes the rest of the team safe. A great goalkeeper and a great centre-back. The impact is not just what they do for, obviously, themselves and their own performance. They impact everyone in that back four, the people in front of them and Dias is exceptional."

He continued to be exceptional en route to four historic Premier League titles in succession, a feat never before achieved, and a Champions League final success that helped complete the treble.

City's difficult campaign has come with Dias suffering several injury woes. Five of their nine losses have come with the Portugal man absent and this will be the first time in his Premier League career that he won't lift the trophy come May.

Maguire meanwhile will have hoped when he signed six years ago that he could be part of the team that do ultimately deliver the title back to Old Trafford. He hasn't come close and, as of today, they've never been further from the summit. All the while Maguire has had to consistently overcome his doubters, hear noise around unjustified England conclusions and even demand that he fight for his future in Manchester when Erik ten Hag was ready to sell him.

For all that he has a Carabao Cup and an FA Cup to show for it - with those successes often covering up for poor league performances.

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