It appears as though Harry Maguire’s days at Manchester United are numbered, with Erik ten Hag taking the captaincy off him this summer and Raphael Varane and Lisandro Martinez preferred to him in the starting line-up.
West Ham have been linked with a £30m offer for the England centre-back but reports suggest they are not able to match his wages at United. Maguire has a choice to make between fighting for his spot at United or being a guaranteed starter elsewhere.
Erik ten Hag spoke to the press about Maguire’s need to prove he deserves to be in United’s first XI.
For Harry, he has to fight for his place. He has the ability to be a top-class centre-back, he is the best for England so why shouldn’t he be the best for us? But he has to prove it. When he is not confident enough to go with that fight then he has to go, he has to make the decision. But I am happy with him.
We don’t have a squad with 11 players. Last year proved definitely we need all the players, so you need high-level players who are maybe not starting but that can change, so there is an internal competition and everyone has to fight for his place.
When they are good they will get their games but no one can play all the games and finally, you find out what is the best team. In the squad now, all the positions are double and every player has the perspective to fight for his place. Then you have to show with your contribution it’s the best team performance. It is up to the players if they have the game time or less.
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