Van Dijk warns Maguire: Price comes with pressure

Virgil van Dijk warned Harry Maguire that his move to Manchester United means pressure after becoming the world’s most expensive defender.

Maguire swapped Leicester City for Premier League giants United in a world-record deal reportedly worth £80million following months of speculation.

The England international, who signed a six-year contract with the option of a further season at Old Trafford, and his transfer to United is believed to have surpassed the £75m Liverpool paid Southampton for Van Dijk in January 2018.

Van Dijk, who led Liverpool to Champions League glory in 2018-19, knows the pressure associated with huge price tags and he had advice for Maguire.

Maguire acquired 

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— Manchester United (@ManUtd) August 5, 2019

“Good luck to him,” he said. “I can’t say anything about that because there was always going to be a time when it was going to change.

“That’s the market. He doesn’t have any influence on that but I wish him well. The price comes with pressure, but it doesn’t change too much because you always have pressure at big clubs like Man United. But I wish him well.”

“Just focus on doing what you love to do and play your best game,” Van Dijk said when asked how he coped with the pressure of a hefty price tag. “Get your qualities out of the pitch, enjoy your game and don’t think about the other things.

“It is not easy to completely shut off all the pressure. Personally, I like to put things in perspective. Quite a lot of things are more important than playing football and what we do, we are blessed.

“We can do what we love to do and also to play for Liverpool – they are such a big club. You need to enjoy it but the pressure will always be there.”

Our new signing’s first day at #MUFC pic.twitter.com/LbK1MBABEX

— Manchester United (@ManUtd) August 5, 2019