11 October 2023 , 09:48
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Harry Maguire has dismissed suggestions he turned down a move to West Ham in the summer in order to sit on his bumper contract at Manchester United.
After losing his place in the starting XI last season, Maguire's days at Old Trafford appeared to be numbered when manager Erik ten Hag stripped him of the club captaincy. And after the Hammers reportedly had a £30million bid for the England international accepted, a switch to east London seemed inevitable.
However, the 30-year-old instead remained at United, where he has two years left on his £190,000-a-week contract. An apparent dispute over a pay-off with the club also prompted criticism, amid the notion he was prepared to let his career stall rather than compromise his sizeable wages.
Despite struggling to nail down a regular spot in Ten Hag's XI, Maguire has continued to be called up for England duty by Gareth Southgate. And facing the media ahead of Friday's friendly with Australia, he insisted he not deliberately passed up the chance of first team football.
"Regular game time is really important to me," he said. "It has been throughout all my career. The actual opportunity to go to West Ham? It wasn't agreed really between both clubs.
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"It wasn't just my chance to say 'yes I'm going'. It wasn't agreed. The actual opportunity wasn't there because we didn't get far enough down the line with it. West Ham is a massive club, but my full focus is Manchester United and having to fight for my place."
Harry Maguire has opened up on his summer transfer sagaHAVE YOUR SAY! Should Harry Maguire have left Man United? Comment below.
Maguire's quest to re-establish himself in Manchester has been hampered by injury problems, but he started the 2-1 win over Brentford on Saturday and provided an assist for one of Scott McTominay's late goals. And a long-term injury to Lisandro Martinez has presented the player with a window of opportunity to find form again.
Last month, the player was back in the spotlight in England colours after coming off the bench to score an own goal in the 3-1 win over Scotland. That prompted a fierce public defence of his form from Southgate, who has stayed loyal to the former Leicester man throughout his trials and tribulations at club level.
"It's a joke," he ranted. "I've never known a player treated like he is, not by the Scottish fans but by our own commentators, pundits whatever it is. They've created something beyond anything I've ever seen. He's been an absolute stalwart in the second most successful England team in decades."