Roy Keane has admitted he feels sorry for Manchester United skipper Harry Maguire as question marks over his role at the club continue.
Former Red Devils captain Keane is one of the best leaders in Old Trafford history, winning seven league titles during his time at the Premier League giants. It’s a different story for Maguire however, who has seen his form dramatically tail off since being given the armband.
Signed for £80million during the summer of 2019, the ex-Leicester defender was quickly promoted to captain but has struggled to find consistent form, particularly this season.
There have been suggestions that United could opt to change captains in the coming months, with Erik ten Hag likely to have his own say when he arrives at the club.
And Keane has suggested that the fact Maguire was so quickly made captain has made his transition to United a more difficult one and claimed it was also a damning indictment of the players already within the squad.
In an interview with LadBible, Keane said: “I feel sorry for Maguire. If you go into a big club… it’s like, imagine if when I came to Man United when I was 20 or 21, quite young, and they went, ‘Oh, you’re the captain’. I’d be thinking, ‘That doesn’t say much about the rest of the group!’.
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“Surely someone has got to be at the club a number of years to be captain. (Who should be captain) at United now? The fact we’ve got to discuss it or think about it is not good. It’s not good.
“Well, it’s not good that Maguire’s got it because he was only new to the club himself a couple of years ago. He was still getting used to (the club) and then all of a sudden he’s got that extra responsibility when he was trying to find his feet.”
Maguire is set to be at the heart of the United defence for Tuesday night’s clash with Liverpool at Anfield and the England star admits he’s desperate for a response after losing the reverse fixture 5-0 at Old Trafford last year.
"Yeah for sure, like you say that was such a low point, the lowest point of the season, one of the lowest points of my career, and I'm sure the rest of the lads', without international football involved in that,” Maguire told Sky Sports.
"You don't need motivation to play in these games. It's such a big rivalry, when you join this club you know the rivalry, it's one of the biggest in the world.
"It's a game we've got to look forward to. We know we're going to have to play at our best to get something, and that's what we've got to prepare for."
Asked if stopping Liverpool’s quadruple hopes was a source of motivation for United, he added: "I don't think that's part of our motivation [stopping Liverpool's quadruple bid], to be honest. I think the motivation is going to Anfield, playing against Liverpool and winning a football match and getting three points for this club and the fans.
"The fans have stuck with us throughout this season, they turn up in their numbers wherever they go, they've been amazing in such a difficult season. "For us to go to Anfield, perform well and get the three points, it would be a huge moment for us to give to the fans. So I think that's the big motivation for us."
