Paul Merson has admitted he was 'out of order' with comments he made about two England internationals during his time as a pundit. The Arsenal icon phoned both men to apologise personally after being left feeling guilty.
The Sky Sports Soccer Saturday regular has never been afraid to call the action exactly as he sees it, and he has also been quick to hold his hands up when he gets it wrong. For example, Merson admitted he got his original opinion of Kevin De Bruyne's Man City transfer 'horribly wrong'.
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The former United man would take these comments back if he could
Speaking on The Overlap alongside the likes of Gary Neville, Roy Keane and Ian Wright, the 57-year-old recalled two times he felt he was 'out of order' in the criticism he handed out to two current Premier League stars.
Paul Merson Was 'Out of Order' With Harry Maguire Criticism
Harry Maguire in action for Manchester United
The first player to make Merson hold his hands up and admit he was wrong was England and Manchester United defender Harry Maguire. The towering centre-half became the world's most expensive defender when he completed an £80 million move to Old Trafford in 2019.
Appearing on Soccer Saturday at the time, Merson was extremely critical of the transfer, despite admitting Maguire had been good for his country. He said: "Maguire for £80m is ridiculous at the highest level.
"He kicks off now with Man Utd and you are on the halfway line and all of a sudden you are playing against Arsenal and you are on the halfway line and balls are going over the top for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and for Man City for Sergio Aguero and it is pace, pace, pace."
The 32-year-old has silenced many critics over the years as he found his feet after perhaps being handed the captain's armband too early in his Red Devils career. Merson told The Overlap panel:
"I've rung up two players since I've been on that show to apologise. Harry Maguire, when he signed for Man Utd. I thought it was a bad signing and I didn't think he'd be able to play on the halfway line and I stick by that.
But I felt like I carried on and went on and on and on. I came away from the show thinking, 'No, you're out of order'."
Continuing, the midfielder-turned-pundit added: "He [Maguire] was a bit surprised but I said, 'I'm not disagreeing with the fee and you playing on the halfway line, I think you might struggle'."
Merson 'Picked Out' Tottenham's James Maddison
james maddison
James Maddison is a player who hasn't been afraid to fire back at pundits when he feels he's been spoken about unfairly. Famously, the Tottenham star made sure to aim a dig at Roy Keane in a goal celebration vs Man United in 2025.
However, the attacking midfielder didn't actually see Merson's criticism of his performance in a north London derby. Merson explained:
"I did an Arsenal game against Tottenham at the new stadium. Tottenham were atrocious that day, atrocious, but I picked out Maddison. Afterwards, I thought, 'Why am I picking him out and not everyone else?' I just said it wasn't good enough.
When you're playing as a 10, you've got to affect a football match; it doesn't matter how badly the rest of the team are playing. So I rang him up and he said, 'Oh, I haven't even seen it'."
Watch Merson's full comments (13:00 onwards)