“We want him…” – Erik Ten Hag reveals he’s ready to work with £80m World Cup superstar at Manchester United
“We want him…” – Ten Hag calls on player to bring his World Cup form to Manchester United
Erik ten Hag has called on Harry Maguire to bring his World Cup form for England back to Manchester United.
Maguire, 29, has struggled for first-team action since Ten Hag was appointed United manager in the summer.
After losing his starting spot at Old Trafford, there were doubts over whether Maguire would keep his place in the England team for the World Cup in Qatar.
But England manager Gareth Southgate put his faith in Maguire and was repaid, with the United defender a solid performer throughout the tournament.
However, he could not prevent England from being eliminated at the quarter-final stage, following a 2-1 defeat to defending champions France.
Ten Hag: Maguire must bring form back to United
Ten Hag has been impressed by Maguire’s performances in Qatar and has urged him to reproduce that same form for United – insisting the central defender remains firmly part of his plans.
“It’s clear he is good enough to play at the highest level,” Ten Hag said.
“He had a period in Manchester where he performed badly and then, of course, there are difficulties. For England, he has good games almost all the time.
“We want him to bring that back to Manchester with him so he can bring it on the pitch for United.
“I think he had a really good World Cup. He was really consistent. When he is playing with his confidence like now, he is a massively important player for us and that is what everyone expects.”
United return to competitive action against Burnley in the Carabao Cup round of 16 on December 21, before hosting Nottingham Forest in the Premier League on December 27.
Maguire could be handed an opportunity to impress in both games, with United’s first-choice centre-backs Lisandro Martinez and Raphael Varane both still competing at the World Cup with semi-finalists Argentina and France.
McCoist: Maguire will look to leave Man Utd
Former Scotland international Ally McCoist believes Maguire will look to leave Old Trafford if he is unable to quickly work his way back into Ten Hag’s starting line-up.
“I think he will move,” McCoist told talkSPORT.
“I don’t think he may move, I’ll go one further – I think he will move. He isn’t going to hang around – he wants to play.
“I don’t think there are any guarantees that he’s going to march back into the Manchester United team, not in front of Varane and Martinez.”
