Maguire given ringing endorsement from Cannavaro - but told what he lacks

Ballon d'Or -winning defender Fabio Cannavaro has become the latest ex-player to back Manchester United captain Harry Maguire.

Cannavaro has given the 28-year-old a ringing endorsement amid heavy criticism from supporters and pundits alike, saying that Maguire has 'no fear' and 'takes responsibility' in tough times.

A number of former professionals have also defended the Red Devils skipper, including Micah Richards and Gabriel Agbonlahor.

Maguire has endured a difficult start to the season for his club but scored twice during the international break and kept two clean sheets for Gareth Southgate 's England.

The first of those matches was alongside Three Lions team-mate John Stones, someone who Cannavaro also rates highly.

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"Stones and Maguire have shown interesting things in recent years," the ItalyWorld Cup winner told The Sun.

"They can both play football, defend and fear no one. They are good individually and with the rest of the backline.

"They are points of reference for Manchester City and Man United — and undoubtedly the two best English defenders."

However, Cannavaro pointed out what Maguire and Stones can improve on, comparing them to fellow Italian defensive icon Giorgio Chiellini.

"When the going gets tough, they take responsibility and are not afraid of trying new things," the 48-year-old, who also played for Juventus and Inter Milan, continued.

"But Chiellini still embodies the spirit of the Italian defender and that level of concentration needed to stop a striker in a difficult moment.

"Maguire and Stones play a totally different type of football and may lack a nasty streak at times. Which Giorgio has."

Red Devils manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will be hoping his skipper can reach that next level quickly, having shelled out £80million for his services and handing him the armband in 2019.

Maguire's price tag has been hotly-debated ever since the deal was agreed with Leicester City but Cannavaro is understanding of the eye-watering fee, still a world record for a defender.

"Good players like Maguire will always be worth a lot and we should not be astonished when top clubs invest that amount on talented players," he explained.

"In Italy, we say that great strikers sell tickets but great defenders win matches.

"Players nowadays rightly cost and earn more money than before because of the finances around the game — and players are the main actors."

One of Maguire's more notable critics in recent weeks has been former United captain Roy Keane.

The Old Trafford legend labelled the defender's celebration after scoring against Albania "embarrassing," as Maguire cupped his ears in what appeared to be a gesture to his critics.

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"When a player scores puts his hands to his ears he's like shutting the critics up," Keane said on ITV.

"But I think that's embarrassing. He's been a disgrace to Man United.

"He thinks he scores there he's shut his critics up, embarrassing."

Maguire responded post-match, admitting: "The celebration was a knee slide, it just came naturally to me. It's an amazing feeling to score for my country.

"It wasn't directed at anyone, it just came naturally to do that and open the scoring for England and get the important three points."