Harry Maguire told to find new club by Man Utd legend

Robin Bairner

• Updated: 1 Jan 2023 20:37 GMT
• 3 min read

Manchester United defender Harry Maguire has been told that he should be looking for a new club after being left on the bench for Saturday’s Premier League encounter with Wolves.

Marcus Rashford also found himself among the substitutes, though for disciplinary reasons, and came off the bench to score what proved the only goal of the game.

Maguire, though, was a replacement because of a technical decision from manager Erik ten Hag, and even more damningly saw left-back Luke Shaw start as a central defender in the place of Lisandro Martinez, who remains absent after helping Argentina win the World Cup.

For Ferdinand, that decision would be the final straw.

“If I was Harry Maguire, I would be looking for a new club,” he told BT Sport.

Maguire's difficulties under Ten Hag

Maguire is one of the players who has found life tough under Ten Hag this season, with the Dutchman having made little secret of his desire to move the England international on.

Although Maguire captained Man Utd on October 30 against West Ham, his previous Premier League start was against Brentford in August, when the Red Devils were infamously beaten 4-0 in London. He has since endured a hamstring issue but remains on the periphery of the squad, coming off the bench in each of the last two games.

Maguire is the world’s most expensive defender of all time, yet his stock has fallen dramatically since leaving Leicester to sign for Manchester United in 2019 for €87 million. Although he has mustered more than 150 appearances in all competitions for the Red Devils, he became a figure of fun during the 2021/22 season, when even his team-mates seem to lose confidence in him as he made a string of costly errors.

Maguire, who is valued at €34m by FootballTransfers, is under contract at Man Utd until 2025 and there have so far been no strong transfer links ahead of the January window.