Ruben Dias or Harry Maguire? Who is a better player?
Manchester City and Manchester United are not just clubs but an emotion for the fans. Having a long and successful past, both teams have faced each other 190 times out of which there are 78 wins for United and 59 for City with 53 draw matches. This is also one of the rivalries in the history of football that has continued for a very long time and the fire on both sides has been burning bright all the time. With such rivalries, a sense of competition is developed among the star players of the team and their achievements as well. One such arising comparison is between the rising star of Manchester City Ruben Dias and Harry Maguire of Manchester United.
If we talk about the success of both the players in recent times, Dias has achieved a lot more than the players of the same age group. He proved himself in various stages as he captained the team in the Champions League, won several titles with the club, and also bagged some valuable individual achievements for himself keeping a good amount of winnings at this age.
On the other hand, Maguire is 4 years older than Dias but if compared to but if we look at Maguire’s achievements four years back, he was no less. In 2019, when Maguire was signed by United, he was signed at a record fee of £70 million which made him the most expensive defender of that time and also among one of the most expensive defenders in history. Since his arrival in Old Trafford, he has been struggling perform well and is being constantly criticized by United fans.
1: Personal Stats
Ruben Dias is a young player and has consistently performed well in past tournaments and has also played all the matches of the 2022-23 campaign. Considering 2020-21 as the best campaign for Ruben Dias, he played the most number of matches for the club in that season and also won many individual honours. Apart from winning honours, his performance on the field was something that a young talent wishes for. Be it developing synergy with the team or sticking to the assigned role, Dias undoubtedly astonished everyone.
On the other hand, Harry’s best season was undoubtedly with Leceister City in the 2017-18 campaign where he played the most number of matches in a single season for the club. His journey with Leceister was indubitably the best of his career not just because of the matches but the honours he accomplished and also established his worth among the top-paid defenders on earth.
| Ruben Dias | Maguire | |
| Games | 32 | 38 |
| Goals | 1 | 2 |
| Assists | 0 | 3 |
The above stats are the best of each player’s entire career and it’s quite evident that Harry is the clear winner when it comes to personal stats. Both the players have played well and have successfully proved their worth in the team. Harry leading the amount of matches played, goals, and assists. The main difference can be seen in the amount of assists as Harry has assisted 3 times while Ruben failed to assist even once.
2: Individual Honours
We know, both players are young and have a long career still left, but the amount of honours on their cabinet is still a lot more than others of the same era. If we talk about Dias, the amount of trophies this young lad has in his cabinet is significantly flattering.
Ruben Dias Individual Honours:
UEFA European U-19 Championship Team of the Tournament 2016
Cosme Dimao Awards – Revelation of the Year
Primeira Liga Best Young Player of the Year – 2017-18
UEFA Nations League Finals Team of the Tournament: 2019
Primeira Liga Defender of the Month – March 2018 and October/November 2019
Primeira Liga Team of the Year : 2019-20
FWA Footballer of the Year – 2020-21
PFA Team of the Year: Premier League 2020-21, 2002-23 Premier League
Manchester City Player of the Year 2020-21
UEFA Champions League Squad/Team of the Season: 2020-21, 2022-23
Premier League Player of the Season 2020-21
ESM Team of the Year 2020-21
UEFA Champions League Defender of the Season: 2020-21
IFFHS Men’s World Team 2021
IFFHS FIFPro World11: 2021
Talking about Man United’s centre-back star Maguire, the number of individual trophies won is not more than that of Dias, but not a big difference can be seen. Dias leads the chart only by a single trophy. Despite the 4-year age gap, Maguire has managed to win a decent number of honors only but Dias being the better one in this area is ahead of Maguire.
Harry Maguire Individual Honours:
PFA Team of the Year: 2011–12 League One, 2012–13 League One, 2013–14 League One
Football League One Team of the Season: 2013–14
Football League Young Player of the Month: August 2011
Sheffield United Player of the Year: 2011–12, 2012–13, 2013–14
Sheffield United Young Player of the Year: 2011–12
Hull City Fans’ Player of the Year: 2016–17
Hull City Players’ Player of the Year: 2016–17
Leicester City Player of the Season: 2017–18
Leicester City Players’ Player of the Season: 2017–18
UEFA Europa League Squad of the Season: 2020–21
UEFA European Championship Team of the Tournament: 202
There is no comparison between them in reality as Dias has much bigger personal achievements compared to Maguire.
3: International Career
If we take a look at the international stats of both players, a noticeable distance can be seen as Harry Maguire very easily leads the charts. Dias plays for Portugal and Maguire plays for England, both players have performed extremely well on the international stage.
| Ruben Dias | Maguire | |
| Games | 48 | 58 |
| Goals | 2 | 7 |
| Assists | 0 | 2 |
Harry Maguire has played 58 matches in his international career and has also netted the ball 7 times and assisted twice. While Dias has scored only 2 times in 48 matches and has not assisted even once. We can see a totally different Maguire while he plays for The Three Lions who disappears when he plays for United.
Harry Maguire is very passionate for his country and helped them reach the finals of Euro 2020. The game went on to penalties and he scored his but unfortunately they lost the cup against Italy.
4: Titles
Harry Maguire is very unlucky in this category as he has won only 1 title in his career. The player has the potential to win great titles but is struggling to win them. Meanwhile Ruben Dias has won a lot for his club and even country. Despite being younger than Maguire he has plenty of titles under his belt including 3x Premier League, 1x Champions League, 1x FA Cup and many other titles.
There is no comparison between the two in this category and it is an easy win for Dias.
Ruben Dias or Harry Maguire? Who is the better player?
We have compared the best stats of both players, their individual achievements, titles, and their international performance. By looking at all the conditions, it’s quite evident that Ruben Dias turns out to be the winner for achieving a lot more compared to Harry Maguire. However, both the players have never been involved in any kind of controversy or press-related stuff. So, this conversation is kept to the on-field comparison, and no sense of hate is initiated to any player by any means. The conclusion turns out to be in Ruben Dias favour.
