ERIK TEN HAG has forked out £100MILLION trying to replace Harry Maguire – but the stats prove he is still Manchester United’s best centre-back.

Ten Hag ensured he was reunited with his ex-Ajax defenders as United chiefs paid £56.7m for Lisandro Martinez in 2022, before splashing £42.7m on Matthijs de Ligt this summer.

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But the data SunSport has gathered shows that Maguire is actually by far and away the most in-form centre-half at Old Trafford.

After a solid debut season in Manchester, Maguire soon faced the wrath of fans, becoming a figure of fun for rivals and a soft touch for the experts after some questionable performances.

The fact that the England ace – who arrived from Leicester for £80m – was automatically handed the club captaincy by Ole Gunnar Solkajaer didn’t help his case.

He was soon stripped of the armband by Ten Hag in June 2023 – being replaced by Bruno Fernandes, after falling behind the first-choice pairing of Martinez and Raphael Varane.

And United even agreed to sell Maguire to West Ham last summer – before the former Sheffield United defender vowed to fight for his place.

And he’s done just that, proving that he’s arguably still the best centre-back at Ten Hag’s disposal.

In fact, Maguire has beaten Martinez and De Ligt in nine out of 13 stat categories recorded in all competitions so far this term.

Maguire has won the most duels with 5.3 per 90 minutes, compared to Martinez’s 2.9 and De Ligt’s 4.8.

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The England star also came out on top in interceptions won, possession won, and successful completed passes (61.81) per 90.

And he’s level with De Ligt in terms of goals scored (one) and total shots, despite starting four matches in all competitions this term.

Martinez comes out on top only in tackles made and won – which is synonymous with his “Butcher” reputation.

The Argentine enjoyed an impressive debut season in 2022-23 but his form significantly dropped after recovering from surgery on his metatarsal bone last summer.

Both Maguire and Martinez were in-and-out of the matchday squad last term, as United suffered an unprecedented number of defensive injuries and recorded a negative goal difference for the first time in Prem history.

Maguire started the first two Prem games this season, but was dropped for a mistake during Danny Welbeck‘s opener in their 2-1 defeat at Brighton.

New signing De Ligt was brought in to start instead but has come under intense scrutiny for his own performances.

Particularly in United’s 3-0 home defeat to Spurs and the 3-3 Porto game where the Red Devils again lost a 2-0 lead.

Club legend Paul Scholes has frequently said: “I’m not convinced De Ligt is better than Maguire.”

Maguire was brought on in the final 10 minutes in the Europa League in Portugal when United trailed 3-2 – before his headed winner saved Ten Hag’s job at the death.

The 31-year-old and Jonny Evans were then trusted to start against Aston Villa, replacing De Ligt and Martinez – who many assumed would be the first-choice pairing going forward.

But Maguire faced yet another setback after suffering a fresh calf injury and left Villa Park in a protective boot, after he was replaced by De Ligt at half-time.

People scoffed at Maguire starting against Unai Emery’s side but Ten Hag will see his temporary loss as a big one.

Retired world champion & boxing coach Anthony Crolla: “You can tell what a good fight it is because so many people are finding it hard to pick a winner, and I’m one of them. If I’m really pushed, I just don’t think Bivol will have the firepower to keep Beterbiev off. I see Beterbiev will wear him down and maybe get a stoppage around the ninth or 10th round.

“But I also wouldn’t be surprised if we see a very disciplined performance from Bivol where he outboxes Beterbiev, hit him and move him, similar to how he did against Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez.”

WBC lightweight champion Skye Nicolson: “It’s the typical brawler v boxer, and I have to back the boxer. I find it hard to see Bivol being caught in a situation he doesn’t want to be in. He’s so good at controlling the distance and pace of the fight.

“But if anyone can do it, it’s Beterbiev. My heart says Bivol.”

British heavyweight champion Fabio Wardley: “I am edging toward Bivol but this is probably one of the hardest fights to predict in boxing at the moment. It’s a real pick ’em fight with two men with completely different styles. Beterbiev is a destroyer who can clean through everyone. Bivol has great power but is such a clean and precise boxer.

“It’s a question of who can enforce their style best on the night and make the impact.”

Heavyweight Frazer Clarke: “I keep changing my mind. I’ve been saying Beterbiev the whole time but I now think Bivol could take this one. It’s a world class 50/50, though.”

Retired world champion Darren Barker: “I would have Beterbiev as the favourite. When you have that power, he knocks people down with jabs. How can you not have him favourite? Not massive, but at any point he could switch Bivol’s lights out. But I am going Bivol in a unanimous decision but a very close fight. What I mean by that is the rounds will be enough. I am going with the matador in this fight but I wouldn’t put my house on it.”

Chelsea manager Sonia Bompastor believes her strong personality and will to succeed come from having to fight to play football when she was younger.

Bompastor, who was the first woman to win the Champions League as a player and manager with Lyon, said French attitudes and prejudice towards women playing the sport spurred her on.

“I wanted to fight against this idea that if you were a girl you couldn’t play football,” she told BBC Sport.

“After that I worked so hard but I enjoyed it so much. At around 18 I realised maybe I could have a good career in my life with football.

“Not a career thinking about winning money, more about enjoying and playing at a high level.”

The 44-year-old has gone on to have a glittering career, winning 11 major trophies during two spells at Lyon as a player before claiming three straight league titles and the 2021-22 Champions League trophy as manager.

Despite Emma Hayes’ success during her 12-year tenure at Chelsea, which yielded 13 major titles, Bompastor’s transition at the club has appeared seamless.

The Blues have won each of their opening two Women’s Super League matches, while they claimed a 3-2 win over Real Madrid in their first Champions League group-stage game on Tuesday.

However, they face a tough test against Arsenal at Emirates Stadium in the league on Saturday, in a game which is live on BBC One from 13:15 BST.

“Results have been good but this game will be different. It’s a derby. You have to be prepared,” said Bompastor, who has been impressed with the competitiveness of the WSL.

“The competition between the clubs is so big, so strong. I think something was missing in France, even if France has clubs competing at the highest level if you take Lyon and PSG.

“Here, every weekend you don’t take anything for granted and you have to fight to win the games so this is really good.”

DANA WHITE has brutally cut 12 fighters from UFC, including a former world title challenger.

UFC chief White, 55, made the call to axe 12 stars from the Contender Series.

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The series is one of the main routes for fighters to make their way into the UFC.

However, as the end of Season 8 approaches, White has decided to slash the deals of 12 veterans.

The end of the season normally signals a time when veterans are replaced by newcomers.

And according to UFC Roster Tracker, 12 fighters were cut from the list of names due to fight on October 7-9.

Those 12 are as follows:

• Kleydson Rodrigues
• Ovince Saint Preux
• Karl Williams
• Victor Altamirano
• Da Woon Jung
• Kay Kruschewsky
• Brianna Fortino
• Victoria Leonardo
• Danyelle Wolf
• Jarno Errens
• Ricky Glenn
• Brian Kelleher

The most notable names on the list are Saint Preux and Kelleher.

Saint Preux, 41, marked his debut at UFC 159 in April 2013.

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Once ranked as one of the top light heavyweights in the world, he challenged Jon Jones for the interim light heavyweight title at UFC 197 in 2016.

However, he lost via unanimous decision.

He also competed in the heavyweight division between 2020 and 2021.

Saint-Preux has won just four of his last 11 MMA fights, with his record now standing at 27-18.

Meanwhile, Kelleher, 38, made his debut in 2017 at UFC 212 and was ranked No15 in the bantamweight division.

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However, his most recent defeat to Cody Gibson in July 2024 marked a run of four stoppage defeats on the spin.

He has an MMA record of 24-16.

The final week of the Contender Series rolls around on October 15 before fighters are awarded the final contracts of the season.

As many as 38 new deals have been handed out throughout the duration of the series, with at least five more expected.

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He is clearly benefitting from his period of reflection and the improvements made in that time – with the ultimate aim of Olympic gold in Italy in 2026.

“I guess there are a lot of small things I could have done better – I really could have eaten better to fuel myself, I could have probably worked harder in the gym,” he said.

“Curling has probably got a bad reputation for people thinking you don’t need to go to the gym – but you do, for a lot of reasons.

“I am going to Switzerland next week and there is the potential to play 18 games in the space of six days, so that is a lot of impact on your body.

“Each game takes about an hour and a half, you burn about 1,000 calories every time you play – if you are burning up to 3,000 calories every day, you have to eat a lot more to fuel yourself.

“So there were a lot things I needed to educate myself on and I was lucky to work with a nutritionist to get that information and understand why I need to eat more and what I need to eat to get those slow-burning carbs.”

While their selection has still to be confirmed, Mouat’s rink look set to get the chance to defend their European title in Finland in November.

That marks the start of a huge 16 months he hopes will end with Winter Olympic glory in Milan.

“We have got a few targets,” Mouat added. “We want to get back to the Europeans and defend that title, we then want to be the team that is selected for the Worlds and we want to be able to win that like we did in 2023.

“Then we are hopefully going to be selected for the Olympics. We got silver last time, so if we do one better, it would be amazing.

“We are good enough, we are proving that this year, but it is not about accepting we have put in the hard work and it is all going to pay off. We have to continue doing that – then we can definitely aim for that gold at the Olympics.”

PREMIER LEAGUE meetings are usually cordial, professional and unobtrusive affairs.

All 20 clubs, plus their executives, sit in a room and ignore the massive elephant that also lurks in every meeting — the ongoing litigation and the £50million-plus of legal costs racked up fighting and defending claims.

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But at the League meeting next week that elephant is going to get an introduction, as we have just tripped over his trunk.

Manchester City versus the Premier League feels like a boxing match, where at the end of the final round both fighters put their hands up claiming the victory.

If the judges of this heavyweight bout were the public, then City would be clear winners.

They not only have the world’s best team on the pitch but also have the best off it too.

Their PR and media team got their message across while making the Prem’s set-up look like a lower league outfit by comparison.

But it’s not the public or the media the Premier League has to worry about.

It’s the clubs, the rules that govern them and what on earth happens now.

Next week’s meeting is to decide exactly that.

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But how did we get here?

Most supporters have never heard of the term APT — Associated Party Transactions — or knew about the new rules regulating them when they came into play in 2021.

APT rules were accepted by the majority of clubs — although by no means all — and were put in place to ensure that all clubs’ sponsorship deals reflect a true and fair market value.

It was hoped to prevent clubs from earning revenue through inflated sponsorship deals from companies related to their owners.

This is important, as the value of sponsorship and other commercial revenue is used to offset the costs of the clubs, like player salaries, agent fees and the manager, which leaves you with a number, usually a loss.

If you go over the League’s number of what they consider to be an acceptable loss — as Everton and Nottingham Forest did — you get a fine, a points deduction or possibly both.

So, the higher your sponsorship, the higher your costs can be and the less you get into trouble.

City challenged the legality of these rules, alleging the APT Rules breach competition and public law and the League’s application of the rules also breached public law standards.

The Prem claims the three-man Arbitration Tribunal endorsed the overall objective of their rules.

No one wants it to become a competition between too few clubs, usually by rich ones who can afford multiple multi-million transfers and top wages.

They also agreed that if the price of an APT is evidently not at fair market value — what anyone else OTHER than the party connected with the owner would have paid — then the competition will be distorted as the club would be benefitting from what effectively is a subsidy.

The Prem needs a financial system to ensure that football is, remains and will always be competitive.

The undiminished competitiveness of the Premier League is the envy of every other foreign league and club and the reason why our top-flight is the best in the world.

No one wants it to become a competition between too few clubs, usually by the rich ones who can afford multiple multi-million transfer fees and top wages.

So next week clubs have to agree to make the necessary changes to the APT rules to address the Tribunal’s concerns.

This requires 14 votes — at least 14 clubs have to agree — or the whole system is thrown into chaos.

It needs to be so that the system can continue to be effective.

We must stop clubs spending whatever they like to get an unbeatable team and create an uncompetitive league.