Former Manchester United star Marcos Rojo has launched a blistering attack on Harry Maguire.
The defensive duo were team-mates at Old Trafford for two years, following Maguire's £80million move from Leicester in the summer of 2019. Rojo was mainly a benchwarmer during their shared time at United, having fallen out of favour under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
And it appears the former Argentine international remains upset that Maguire was favoured ahead of him by the Norwegian. He has revealed he held talks with Solskjaer in which he urged the then United boss to play him over the struggling Maguire.
Rojo launched into a X-rated blast of United's club captain and admitted he gave Solskjaer an ultimatum to convince him to ditch Maguire. While that did not happen, Rojo could not hide his relief that Maguire has now fallen down the pecking order under Erik ten Hag.
"That year I was very good in England, I was playing the Europa League. I was hot with the coach, Maguire was playing, now thank God they took him out and Licha Martínez is playing," Rojo told TyC Sports.
"I went to the office. I told him: 'Either let me go or put me on.' It was wrong that he didn't make me play. He told me: 'They paid him so much and he has to play yes or yes'. And I told him: 'Son of a b****. give me, if this one is sent every Sunday'."
HAVE YOUR SAY! Does Harry Maguire have a future at Manchester United? Comment below.
Despite Rojo's intervention, Maguire remained a key member of Solskjaer's team, until he was sacked in November 2021. He continued to feature heavily under interim boss Ralf Rangnick, but has struggled to convince Ten Hag since the Dutchman's arrival last summer.
Instead Martinez and Raphael Varane have emerged as the first-choice centre-back pairing. But Ten Hag has insisted that there is still a place for Maguire in his plans for the Red Devils.
"He has an important role, he is the captain, he leads, he communicates with the manager, motivates the team, he's the example in the training space. I'm thinking about improving this team and these players, that's my job with the coaching staff and the players," he said.
"We have all our focus on this process and not on other processes that will distract you. I know this group of players can do better, they've proved it so many times this season. We've made huge progress during the season, but we have steps to go.
"We have a lot of games to play and occasions to prove it. We can't deny it, it's mental, definitely. We have to learn that you keep going, you carry on.
"What this team can do very well is bounce back in between games, what they can do less is bounce back during a game to a setback. That is what we have to improve."
