Much is riding on the shoulders of Maguire at Manchester United this season following his £80million switch from Leicester in the summer.
Whether Maguire can propel a United team that struggled so badly at times last term to the same level remains to be seen, and Ferdinand says he should not be expected to carry too much of the burden.
"Inevitably he is going to be judged against someone like Virgil van Dijk because he has gone for more money,” the BT Sport pundit told Express Sport.
"He'll be judged against what he's done and they've now won the Champions League. But I think it's an unfair comparison because what Virgil came in to was a team that was closer to the top, closer to winning and a lot of the jigsaw was already pieced together."
Ferdinand knows all about the pressure on Maguire as someone who broke the transfer record for a defender twice in his glittering playing career.
Where Ferdinand went into an all-conquering team that had winning trophies in its DNA, Maguire has arrived in Manchester on the back of a dismal campaign that saw them finish sixth in the league and fail to qualify for the Champions League.
Manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is attempting to rebuild and Maguire showed signs he is ready to lead them back to the top with an astute display in the thumping 4-0 win over Chelsea on the opening day of the season last weekend.
But Ferdinand says he will need time to adapt to the pressures of playing for one of the biggest clubs in the country.
"It can be daunting, it's big pressure and the price tag can play on your mind,” he added.
"I remember when it happened to me, none of my mates spoke about the price, it was more about the players I was going to playing with. I think the big difference is that I went into a changing room that was full of winners, consistent winners."
"It is not an easier scenario for Maguire but a different pressure. I was expected to come in and know how to win, to come in and win straight away. I was expected to come straight in and hit the top level because that's where they were playing at."
"Now, he has come into a team that, confidence-wise and position-wise is at a lower level. There's a lot of ground to make up and that's a pressure in itself."