We Could have Had Maguire + 2- We Ended Up With SSHhhh You Know Who!!

How England's Euro 2020 hero Harry Maguire came so close to becoming a Bristol City player
The Manchester United defender lines up for England tonight in their Euro 2020 semi-final at Wembley against Denmark, six years after he nearly became a Robin

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The Bristol City double-winning season of 2014/15 will never be forgotten by Robins supporters, with the West Country men sauntering to the title and Johnstone's Paint Trophy at Wembley.

And then head coach Steve Cotterill was eager to build on the momentum from being promoted to the English second tier in the summer of 2015.

Chiefly Cotterill wanted to reinforce in attack, and the former City boss always aims to strengthen in the forward areas once his side have achieved a promotion, as happened at Cheltenham and Notts County.

Deals were lined up by Cotterill and then director of football Keith Burt for strikers Dwight Gayle and Andre Gray, with Brentford attacker Gray even visiting Bristol and staying in the Marriott Hotel to seal a transfer to Ashton Gate on a contract not too far from what City's highest earner receives now. As is well documented, both moves fell through.

The then Bristol City board were unwilling to sanction the transfers, preferring a long-term build instead based upon academy talent and more value-driven, under-the-radar purchases on lower wages.

But it wasn't just in attack that City looked. To help the defence, the club had a serious interest in then Hull City defender Harry Maguire too.

Though Derrick Williams and Aden Flint had been mainstays of the League One success, the Robins were looking to specifically bolster the defence with at least one more centre-back to tackle the challenge of competing in the Championship.

Maguire was highly rated as a developing central defender, with the skill set to see off physical challenges and have the technical skills to play at the higher end of the game. As has come to pass. Crucially, he already had experience of playing at that level, that the City management team were looking for and this elevated him over other transfer targets that summer.

The chance to snap him up was deemed too good to let pass, especially at the agreed price. "It was a bargain," explained one source.

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Sky Sports reported a £2.5m bid from the Robins that summer that was officially denied by the south west club, but the interest was real.

Indeed, then-Bristol City chairman Keith Dawe told Bristol Live on July 3, 2015, that: "We made an enquiry for Harry Maguire and a proposal was probably discussed. But there was no formal bid, because Hull are not interested in selling the player at the present time."

However, Bristol Live understands that a deal was far closer to coming to fruition than was made public back then.

On the face of it, it appeared that Cotterill and Burt were unable to persuade the Tigers to sell, despite the Humberside team's relegation from the Premier League that season. In actual fact, a deal with Hull City was agreed to the point that Steve Bruce was already in the process of lining up a replacement for Maguire with another transfer well down the line.

All was set up for Maguire to come in to BS3. "It was in the bag," according to one person involved.

Maguire had received little game time at the KC Stadium back then, due to playing behind Curtis Davies and Michael Dawson, and had instead joined Wigan on loan in the February of the 2014/15 season, making his debut against Reading and scoring against Blackpool two weeks later.

He made 16 appearances for the Latics that year, enough to entice the watching Cotterill and Burt, and terms were subsequently agreed with Hull to bring in the former Sheffield United youth player, who would later become club captain of Manchester United.

Former City manager Danny Wilson had managed Maguire while he was coming through at Sheffield United, giving a glowing reference of the player off the pitch.

"He has got a fantastic maturity for his age, he takes everything in his stride and nothing fazes him," Wilson explained of Maguire's England Under-21s call-up in 2012.

But crucially, the Bristol City board hesitated and decided not to pursue the agreed terms on offer.

One reason was that certain board members believed that the agreed transfer fee would take up too much of the allocated funds for that particular window. There would be little finance left for further players to come in during that window.

A subsequent renegotiated offer was deemed not high enough to gain the then 22-year-old's signature. Indeed, according to our sources, the altered terms and whole episode angered Tigers boss Bruce, leading to some irate phone calls back to the south west about what was going on and the reneging on what had been agreed previously.

It was a source of embarrassment for all concerned at Bristol City. The Tigers felt insulted and another transfer deal fell through.

But, of course, things worked out pretty well for Maguire: he went on to play 33 times the following season for Hull as they were promoted back to the Premier League through the play-offs under Bruce.

And then he earned Premier League exposure under Mike Phelan, who succeeded Bruce, which led to a big-money move to Leicester City, as he catapulted to success with the Foxes and eventually rejoined Phelan at Old Trafford for a cool estimated £80m in August 2019.

Now Maguire will play at the back for Gareth Southgate's side this evening against Denmark, as the country holds its breath to see if a first major tournament final can be reached since 1966. What if that deal to come to Bristol City had gone through, eh?

Meanwhile, back this way, later that same summer of 2015, a certain Nathan Baker would pitch up in BS3 on loan instead (on the same day as fellow centre-back Liam Moore) as City looked elsewhere for defensive reinforcements.

And to be fair to the man who did arrive, Baker then played 36 league games under Cotterill and afterwards Lee Johnson to help preserve City's Championship status.

Of course, Baker returned to City permanently in the summer of 2017, with Steve Bruce this time successfully cashing in - as the Aston Villa boss at that time - but not without regret.

“It was one of those football decisions that was not very easy but for him for what he [Baker] gave me for six months I gave him the opportunity of what he wanted to do for his career,” said Bruce at the time.

Baker subsequently played a key role in that unforgettable 2017/18 Carabao Cup run, before being released and returning to BS3 for a third time this summer, the club having stabilised in the second tier over the terms of his four-year contract if not able to really push for promotion.

Finally, as Robins supporters think of the fine left-footed centre-back that Maguire has become, able to slalom through midfield to progress the ball from defence, spare a thought for new City left-footed 22-year-old defensive signing Rob Atkinson.

Atkinson's composed playing style is not too dissimilar from the cornerstone Three Lions central defender that might have made the move to the south west himself. Maybe we'll all be reflecting on a different 'what if' in years to come.
https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/sport...ws/england-harry-maguire-bristol-city-5616839

 

It really ticks me off, they hesitated and lost out out on the possibility of Mcguire,Grey and Gayle already agreed by Cotts looking to build and strengthen a promoted team due to future possible finance deals, then spent millions on 65 players over the next 5 years and look where we have progressed to, laughable.

 

I think he has learned from his mistakes, Ashton and his mob gone, LJ, DH and most of their crowd gone, NP appointed, new CEO appointed, new medical health chief appointed, purse strings slowly released and new players joining.

Time is ticking by, the pre season is nearly upon us, we will soon see and be able to make honest judgements, I can't wait.

 

I can only answer your reading of the situation by what is reported in the article ~
'Steve Cotterill was eager to build on the momentum from being promoted to the English second tier in the summer of 2015.
Chiefly Cotterill wanted to reinforce in attack, and the former City boss always aims to strengthen in the forward areas once his side have achieved a promotion, as happened at Cheltenham and Notts County.
Deals were lined up by Cotterill and then director of football Keith Burt for strikers Dwight Gayle and Andre Gray, with Brentford attacker Gray even visiting Bristol and staying in the Marriott Hotel to seal a transfer to Ashton Gate on a contract not too far from what City's highest earner receives now. As is well documented, both moves fell through.
The then Bristol City board were unwilling to sanction the transfers, preferring a long-term build instead based upon academy talent and more value-driven, under-the-radar purchases on lower wages.
But it wasn't just in attack that City looked. To help the defence, the club had a serious interest in then Hull City defender Harry Maguire too.
Though Derrick Williams and Aden Flint had been mainstays of the League One success, the Robins were looking to specifically bolster the defence with at least one more centre-back to tackle the challenge of competing in the Championship.
Maguire was highly rated as a developing central defender, with the skill set to see off physical challenges and have the technical skills to play at the higher end of the game. As has come to pass. Crucially, he already had experience of playing at that level, that the City management team were looking for and this elevated him over other transfer targets that summer.
The chance to snap him up was deemed too good to let pass, especially at the agreed price. "It was a bargain," explained one source.'
Sky Sports reported a £2.5m bid from the Robins that summer that was officially denied by the south west club, but the interest was real.