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regular-article-logo Tuesday, 07 May 2024

Premier League: Erik ten Hag wants Harry Maguire to fight for place

Hag has always maintained there is a place in his squad for Maguire and re-emphasised the 30-year-old still has the quality to succeed in Manchester

Our Bureau Manchester Published 19.08.23, 09:17 AM
Manchester United players, in this picture shared by the club on X (formerly Twitter), attend a training session on Friday.

Manchester United players, in this picture shared by the club on X (formerly Twitter), attend a training session on Friday. Twitter

Erik ten Hag insists he is "very happy" Harry Maguire remains at Manchester United but reiterated he must fight for his place with Jonny Evans.

Maguire looked set to leave Old Trafford after West Ham agreed a fee in the region of £30m to sign the England international last week, but negotiations broke down and the transfer fell through.

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A departure for Maguire, who lost the United captaincy earlier this summer, so late in the transfer window would have left the club with little time to bring in a replacement.

Asked about Maguire's situation ahead of United's Premier League trip to Tottenham on Saturday, Ten Hag said: "I don't know about the process, only that Harry is a player for us, I'm happy he's here, and we need a good squad.

"We have four good centre-halves, with Luke Shaw then we have five. We need that because we could go on to play 50-60 games this season.

"All the players are internationals, we have a lot of fixtures to cover, so I'm happy Harry Maguire's here. He has to fight for his position, as does everyone in the squad. We construct a squad with double positions, but we need it."

Ten Hag has always maintained there is a place in his squad for Maguire and re-emphasised the 30-year-old still has the quality to succeed in Manchester.

Tired but ready

Manchester City will be ready for their game with Newcastle United despite having played in the Uefa Super Cup in Athens on Wednesday, manager Pep Guardiola said.

After their penalty shootout win over Sevilla, the City manager sarcastically thanked the Premier League for arranging the Newcastle game on Saturday.

Ruben Dias suffered a concussion in training before their opening league game which ruled him out for seven days. John Stones also missed that game and the Super Cup with a hip problem. "Maybe Ruben (Dias) will play. John (Stones) is out. Last training he didn't feel comfortable, I don't know how long that will be," the manager confirmed.

Chelsea signing

Chelsea completed the signing of 19-year-old defensive midfielder Romeo Lavia from Southampton on Friday after agreeing to a reported transfer fee of $74 million. The Belgium international signed a seven-year deal after rejecting a proposed move to Liverpool.

Written with inputs from Reuters

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