Harry Maguire will not consider leaving Manchester United on transfer deadline day – but he will reconsider his future at the end of the season.
Maguire has struggled for regular game time under Erik ten Hag this season, with Raphael Varane, Lisandro Martinez and Luke Shaw preferred at centre-back. He has started just four Premier League games all season and has not seen his involvement increase after a decent showing for England at the World Cup.
The 29-year-old's difficult situation has led to him being linked with several moves over the past month, with West Ham enquiring about his availability when Craig Dawson was in the process of joining Wolves. More recently, Inter Milan have targeted Maguire as a possible replacement for Milan Skriniar, who is set to join Paris Saint-Germain in the summer.
Despite his frustration at his standing, Maguire remains determined to stay and fight for his place at United, according to the Manchester Evening News. He is under contract until June 2025 and has still not won any silverware at the club since his £80million transfer from Leicester in the summer of 2019, so he wants to put that right.
United hold a 3-0 lead over Nottingham Forest ahead of the second leg of their Carabao Cup semi-final on Wednesday night. If they can get past Forest, then Newcastle or Southampton wait in the final at Wembley for a chance to win a first major trophy since the Europa League in May 2017.
A move in the summer could be on the cards for Maguire, who has made it clear that his predicament cannot continue. The United club captain wants to play regular football and may be forced to move to secure it, with his place in the England side another consideration.
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Maguire’s stance is in-keeping with Ten Hag, who wants to keep his squad together on deadline day. United are still fighting on four fronts, with a fifth-round FA Cup tie against West Ham coming up next month, as well as a clash with Barcelona in the knockout stages of the Europa League.
Ten Hag is reluctant to weaken his options in central defence, where he can call upon Maguire, Varane, Martinez and Victor Lindelof as specialist centre-backs, as well as Shaw. The left-back started in league wins over Forest, Wolves and Manchester City, as well against Everton in the FA Cup.
Maguire has played 90 minutes three times since returning from the World Cup, with just one of those coming in the Premier League. While he has undoubtedly dropped down the pecking order this season following the 4-0 thrashing by Brentford on August 13, there have been other factors.
Earlier in January, Maguire revealed that he had been struggling with illness after returning from the World Cup. "I was unfortunate in terms of when I came back from the World Cup, I had a bad illness, to be honest, and it knocked me back for one or two weeks," he told ESPN. "I feel good now. We have a lot of good centre halves at this club, there’s a lot of competition for places and I’ll keep fighting."
Once the window closes, Maguire will be hoping to feature in Wednesday’s FA Cup semi-final second leg against Forest. United then host Crystal Palace in the Premier League on Saturday.
