04 September 2023 , 10:55
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Erik ten Hag once again dropped a hint that Harry Maguire’s Manchester United career is effectively over.
The England star has endured a rotten summer so far. He was initially stripped of the Red Devils’ captaincy, whilst he was also expected to leave the club after falling out of favour under the Dutchman.
A £30m move to Premier League rivals West Ham was expected, only for the deal to fall through. Maguire did not manage to seal an exit before the British transfer window shut last week. The 30-year-old was afforded his first competitive appearance over the weekend in Sunday’s defeat to Arsenal. Maguire made just a 23-minute cameo but it could have been more.
Red Devils’ boss Ten Hag turned to Swedish defender Victor Lindelof for the trip to the Emirates Stadium, despite the former Benfica star being under the weather. Speaking after the clash against Arsenal, he said: "Victor was ill, so he had to come off.
“And Licha [Lisandro Martinez] said he had a problem on his foot. But I'm not sure if it's an injury. We have to wait, we have to see, we have to make the diagnosis."
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The fact that Ten Hag called upon an ill Lindelof to start instead of Maguire will almost certainly be another insult for the England defender. His boss had previously expressed his delight at the defender staying at Old Trafford and called upon him to resurrect his career.
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"It's up to him," Ten Hag previously warned. "He knows what i expect from him. I've been here for one year now and you know what I expect from a centre half. And he can do it, I've told you many times before he has the ability to do it so now he has to show it.
"It is then about character, to be convinced to play that role, he has all the abilities to do it and it is up to him when the time [opportunity] is there. Harry is a player for us, I am happy he is here, we need a good squad, we have four good centre halves - including Luke Shaw we have five - and we need it because we are going to play 50-60 games this season.
"All the players are internationals, so we have a very heavy load to cover so I am happy Harry Maguire is here."
Maguire was eventually introduced against Arsenal with just over 20 minutes of normal time remaining as he replaced Martinez. He was then joined by former Leicester team-mate Jonny Evans as the Red Devils attempted to close out the game against the Gunners.
It did not work as Arsenal scored two stoppage time goals through Declan Rice and Gabriel Jesus. Maguire will be aiming to earn more game time over the international break. He was included in Gareth Southgate’s Three Lions squad for showdowns with Ukraine and Scotland.