Revealed: What Ronaldo wanted Man Utd to do with Harry Maguire
Paul Macdonald
- Updated: 23 May 2023 08:46 CDT
- 3 min read
Cristiano Ronaldo proposed to former Manchester United boss Ralf Rangnick that captain Harry Maguire should be DROPPED from the starting XI at the end of last season, reports suggest.
Maguire suffered a torrid time in the centre of the United defence last season, regularly making errors and prompting fans to debate the value of his £80m transfer from Leicester City just two seasons prior.
Rangnick, who was interim boss after the sacking of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, had to field questions on a weekly basis on the status of his captain, but Maguire kept his place in the side until the end of the season.
Cristiano Ronaldo stated during a meeting with Ralf Rangnick that Harry Maguire should be demoted to the bench. Although Rangnick felt the conversation was inappropriate without Maguire present, Ronaldo said he believed Maguire was part of the problem. [@TheAthleticUK] #mufc
— The United Stand (@UnitedStandMUFC) August 31, 2022
But according to reports in the Athletic, Ronaldo had arranged a meeting with Rangnick and pressed home his opinion that Maguire be placed on the bench.
Rangnick didn’t want to continue the conversation without Maguire present, but the messaging points to a fractured dressing room at United, one in which all the players were not pulling in the same direction.
Maguire started the season in United’s defence but has been dropped for United’s last two matches, versus Liverpool and Southampton, with Erik Ten Hag preferring the duo of Raphael Varane and Lisandro Martinez.
Ten Hag has responded to questions regarding Maguire’s future with the view that the season is long, and United will also have Europa League football to contend with. With Varane’s suspect injury record, there will almost certainly be playing time opportunities for Maguire.
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But it remains a fall from grace from the one-time most expensive defender in the world, and it remains to be seen if he will accept a reduced role at the club under Ten Hag - something that Ronaldo pushed for months ago.
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