“Should be still learning from these top, top defenders” – Agbonlahor insists Maguire should emulate Chelsea star to return to his best at Manchester United

Former Aston Villa striker Gabby Agbonlahor believes Manchester United defender Harry Maguire should learn from Chelsea's Thiago Silva on how to not get 'paced'.

The English defender has faced a lot of criticism this season. He has made mistakes consistently throughout the season and some have even led to goals. His poor positioning and underconfident tackles have led to him getting beaten easily by opponents.

Meanwhile, Chelsea defender Thiago Silva has been in prime form at 37-years old. The Brazilian rarely lets an opponent get by him and is usually calm in tough situations.

Agbonlahor believes Maguire should watch Silva and learn from him how to defend cleverly. Speaking to Express, the former striker praised Silva and likened him to Chelsea legend John Terry. He said:

"What I love about Thiago Silva is that you never see him get paced. He reminds me a bit of John Terry, he was never the quickest but he was very clever. If there was a chance you were running in behind, he was already gone. He would chose the right moments to get tight to you, the right moments to drop off and give himself a yard."

Agbonlahor added:

“As much as we look at Harry Maguire, he should be looking at defenders like Thiago Silva and should still be learning from these top, top defenders.”

Maguire scored a goal in Manchester United's 4-2 win over Leeds United in the Premier League on Sunday and was decent defensively as well.

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Manchester United and Chelsea to sign defenders in the summer

Both Manchester United and Chelsea need top quality defenders in the summer.

United have the numbers but Maguire and Victor Linelof aren't deemed good enough by many fans and pundits. They will look to sign someone to partner Raphael Varane at the back and give their defense some solidity.

The Blues, meanwhile, have three defenders running out of contracts in the summer. These include Cesar Azpilicueta, Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen. All three are unlikely to stay at the club and have been linked with other European clubs like Bayern Munich, Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain.

Manchester United and Chelsea will have plenty of options as there are several defenders set to be on the market in the summer. This includes Matthijs de Ligt, Jules Kounde and Sven Botman among others.