If Harry Maguire wants to stay with the England team, he needs to leave Manchester United.
Former West Ham striker Frank McAvennie, who spoke exclusively to Football Insider, expressed his desire for the centre back to depart Old Trafford this summer after managing Erik ten Hag lost faith in him.
But as shown on TNT Sport (October 24), the England international scored during the Red Devils’ 1-0 Champions League triumph over Copenhagen on Tuesday, despite making a rare start.
Harry Maguire comes up BIG for Man Utd 🏴💥#UCL pic.twitter.com/zu1KQ2HCgm
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) October 24, 2023
With just two Premier League starts this season, Maguire has battled for playing time despite a solid showing at Old Trafford. West Ham made a summer bid for him, and they had lengthy discussions about a possible transfer. However, the terms of the transaction could not be reached, so he decided to stay in Manchester and compete for his spot.
The 30-year-old is still in Gareth Southgate’s team and scored in England’s 3-1 triumph over Scotland last month (12 September), but McAvennie stressed the player must continue to play frequently to maintain his spot.
“There is a lot of weight on his shoulders at Manchester United. He’s clearly performed incredibly well,” he informed Football Insider.
Fair play to [Maguire], as far as I can tell. Thus, maybe this is a tipping point. He is clearly performing well because he is a member of the team, even if I felt he should have left Manchester United after getting destroyed.
“Hopefully, this marks a sea change. Go now, as soon as you can, because you need to play frequently to be on the England team. I don’t care, though. As best as I can recall, the boy has been slain, so I hope he does well.
