Harry Maguire has insisted he has no intention of leaving Manchester United as prepares to fight back after the “toughest moment of my career”.
The England defender was stripped of the United captaincy 12 months ago and could have left the club that summer amid interest from West Ham.
But Maguire overcame the disappointment and the doubters to force his way back into the team, only to suffer the heartbreak of missing the FA Cup and Euro 2024 through injury.
“Yeah it was probably the toughest moment of my career,” said Maguire, speaking for the first time about the situation on United’s pre-season tour of the US.
“I worked so hard throughout the year to get myself in a position where I was in a really good place physically and mentally to play in the FA Cup final and then thinking about the Euros after that.
“To then have an injury which was, to be honest, not a big injury – it was just a calf injury and only a three-week one… but I just had three setbacks with it.”
Maguire did initially join up with England in a bid to prove his fitness alongside team-mate Luke Shaw after watching United’s 2-1 FA Cup triumph over Manchester City from the stands at Wembley, only to have to pull out after another setback.
And he admits having some hope of going to Germany – where England were beaten in the final by Spain – only for the dream to be snatched away was the worst part about it.
“When I first did the injury, I thought I’d be fit for the FA Cup final. So I pushed myself for the final, and then I had a setback in the week leading up to it, which ruled me out,” he explained.
“At that time again, it was no problem. ‘I was going to be fit for the Euros’. Then I went away with England and I had another setback, so yeah, it was so frustrating.
“When I look back, I wish I had no chance with any of them so I could have got my head around it. But I thought I was going to play in the Cup final or be involved at some stage and I thought 100 per cent I’d be involved at the Euros but it just didn’t happen.
“Maybe I just pushed myself to get back too early but it was the toughest moment of my career, definitely.
“I managed to get over it and I was still in contact with a lot of the lads – obviously a lot of them are my really good close mates.
“Even though it was tough that I wasn’t over there, they did make me feel like I was still part of the group. It was tough to not be there but I still managed to watch the boys play and had big groups with my family and friends, who are all big England fans, so I still enjoyed the summer, watching them do well.”
United have signed France Under-21 defender Leny Yoro from Lille for £58.8 million this summer after releasing Raphael Varane and could yet bring in another centre-back amid interest in Everton’s Jarrad Branthwaite and Matthijs de Ligt of Bayern Munich.
Victor Lindelof could be sold and doubts have continued to surround the future of Maguire. But the 31-year-old – who has entered the final year of his contract at Old Trafford albeit with an option to extend by another 12 months – is determined to stay and again prove his worth amid excitement about the direction of the club under new co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe.
“Listen, until I get told ‘You’re up for sale or we want you to leave’ I want to play for this club and make it successful again,” Maguire said.
“All the things I’m hearing and seeing from everyone involved is I’ll be part of this club for the future. Every summer and every transfer window at Manchester United, there are 15 players out of the door and we’re getting 45 players in.
“I think every player knows that’s what happens. I’m a player with only a year left on my contract with an option but if they come to me and say they don’t want me any more, of course I’ll look for options elsewhere, but that’s never been told to me.
“It is exciting times for everyone involved with the club and it is definitely going in the right direction again. As a player and someone who cares about the club it is really good to see.”
Maguire says he is pleased Ratcliffe and his Ineos team kept faith with Erik ten Hag and admits the uncertainty over the manager’s position did have an adverse impact on the players last season when they finished eighth in the Premier League.
“It was tough, some of the things that came out in the lead up to the Cup final were really poor I felt,” Maguire said. “He [Ten Hag] handled it brilliantly.
“It probably did damage our performances and results throughout the season maybe a little bit, especially when it [news Ineos had agreed to buy a minority stake in the club] happened around that Christmas period when we really did fall off.
“But credit to the manager, the way that he handled it. To have the lead up in the way that he did and to produce a performance like we did in the cup final and turn things around was really impressive.”
Maguire admits the atmosphere during the post Wembley celebrations was unusual given the uncertainty over Ten Hag’s position, with the club having spoken to half a dozen other managers about the job.
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