(Football news) When Harry Maguire was signed byManchester United for a record £80 million fee from Leicester City in 2019, he was the most expensive defender in the history of the sport. Naturally, the transfer fee brought about great expectations from the England international who hasn’t really won the fans over since his arrival, being criticised for his lack of leadership and the numerous blunders he has made during the matches. To make matters worse, Maguire has been a social media scapegoat, being the central figure of blame for Manchester United’s failures under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Ralf Rangnick.

Fast forward to 2023 and it’s clear that Erik ten Hag prefers Lisandro Martinez and Raphael Varane as his preferred centre backs. Manchester United have made significant progress under the Dutchman, winning the Carabao Cup already and are competing on all fronts, being the only English team to do so.

The partnership between Martinez and Varane is being lauded as the next Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand in terms of their respective style of play as well as the stability they bring to the backline. With Victor Lindelof, another former first team centre back also on the bench, Maguire has been pushed further down the pecking order which is good for the depth of the squad but might not be enough to satisfy the skipper’s ambitions.

According to a report by Daily Star, the 29 year old rejected a move to Inter Milan in the January transfer window but the Italian giants are expected to approach Maguire in the summer once again if he is open to leaving. He has started just four Premier League games this season with left back Luke Shaw being selected over Maguire in centre-back and the player is said to be frustrated to be reduced to a rotation player over the course of this season. The England international has a contract until 2025 with an option to extend for a further year.

Erik ten Hag has publicly defended Harry Maguire by saying “He was dominating the defence, but in offence, he had some really good moments, good passes and was engaging and outplaying opponents. He played a good game. How do we help him? In training. Not long ago, I showed him a video [on] how to outplay opponents and how he can have more impact in possession and building up with his skills. He is really high-skilled for a centre-back. He has so many skills and he has to use that in a game.”

It remains to be seen if Maguire will remain at Manchester United next season, but the reality is that it’s unlikely he will get a move to another club at the stature of the Red Devils but that might be a trade off he’s willing to take for regular playing time.

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