As part of Youth Development Week, the EFL is looking back at some of the standout winners of the EFL Young Player of the Month award from years gone by.

The award was created to recognise young players who made significant contributions to their teams, with previous winners including Jude Bellingham, James Maddison and Victor Moses.

Many have gone on to enjoy success at the highest level with Clubs and on the international scene, with the EFL playing a role in their rise to the top.

For the fifth instalment of the series, we look at Harry Maguire’s career to date and how the award was a sign of things to come for the England international.

Maguire was just 18 years old when he lifted the award, but by the time he was given the accolade he had already started making a name for himself.

The Sheffield-born defender joined United from Barnsley when he was 13 before muscling his way into the side shortly before they were relegated to League One at the end of the 2010/11 season. Making his debut against Cardiff City in April 2011 as a substitute, he went onto make one more appearance for the Blades before their eventual drop from the Championship.

But it was August 2011 when he made himself at home in the back line for the Yorkshire side. In an explosive start to life in League One, Maguire scored his first professional goal away at Oldham Athletic on the opening day of the season in a 2-0 win before playing a crucial role in a mean defence that saw them keep a further two clean sheets before the end of the month.

A goal and three clean sheets were enough for the teenager to be named the EFL’s Young Player of the Month and he helped his side to a third-place finish. Unfortunately for Maguire and Sheffield United they lost the play-off final to Huddersfield Town on penalties.  

Harry Maguire’s stand out first full season in professional football, saw him won Sheffield United’s Young Player of the Year and Player of the Year  and meant he was first choice as the Blades looked to build on narrowly missing out on promotion the previous season.

Maguire continued to grab headlines as he made his 100th appearance for the club in February 2013 and was named in the PFA League One Team of the Year for three consecutive seasons.

Maguire joined Hull City in 2014 and established himself as a starter under Mike Phelan before being voted Hull’s Player of the Year by both fans and players in the 2016/17 season.

After a standout season with Hull, despite their relegation from the Premier League, Maguire earnt a move to Leicester City going on to play every minute of the 2017/18 season for the Foxes as well as being named Player of the Season by both players and fans at the end of season awards.

Two years after joining Leicester, Manchester United splashed out on the centre back in 2019 before being made United captain in January 2020. Since joining the Red Devils, Maguire has helped the side to a Europa League Final as well as helping them lift the Carabao Cup in 2023.

Throughout his time in the Premier League, Maguire has also featured heavily for the England national team, and became a mainstay under Gareth Southgate, after making his debut in 2017.

The defender played in all but two games at UEFA Euro 2020, with him helping England to the final of the tournament before the Three Lions lost on penalties to Italy at Wembley. His performances also saw him named in the Team of the Tournament.