January West Ham swoop destroyed, with Man Utd star ‘really enjoying’ himself amid new lease of life
Harry Maguire and Scott McTominay of Manchester United
West Ham United look set for failure in their pursuit of Harry Maguire, with the defender ‘really enjoying’ life at Manchester United after turning his situation around under Erik ten Hag.
Maguire was heavily linked with a move away from Man Utd in the summer after Ten Hag stripped him of the captaincy in July, handing it to Bruno Fernandes instead. Premier League clubs including Tottenham Hotspur, Aston Villa and Newcastle United were tipped to make approaches for the centre-back, but it was West Ham who pushed the hardest to finalise his signing.
After David Moyes signalled his desire to work with Maguire, West Ham submitted a £30million offer to capture him. But this was reportedly rejected by Man Utd.
Maguire went on to remain at Old Trafford, and in October he broke his silence on that potential switch to East London. The Englishman stated that a deal was never agreed between the two clubs, ‘so the actual opportunity wasn’t there’ to move.
Maguire looked like he had made the wrong choice in opting to stay with Man Utd at the start of the season, as he managed to appear for just 23 minutes in the Red Devils’ first six Premier League games.
However, Maguire has since established himself as a regular in Ten Hag’s starting lineup, playing a full 90 minutes in each of their last eight games across all competitions.
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Instead, it has been Raphael Varane who has had to settle for a place on the bench in recent weeks, while Lisandro Martinez will be out of action until the new year due to injury.
Any hopes West Ham had of engineering a January deal for Maguire have now been swatted aside, as Maguire has explained why he is enjoying a new lease of life with Man Utd.
Harry Maguire loving life at Man Utd once again
“I am really enjoying my football and I really enjoy playing for this club,” he said (via The Independent). “I was willing to stay and fight for my place and we have four or five top international centre-backs at this club and the competition for places is really high.”
On his struggles earlier in the season, Maguire added: “I just didn’t play as many [games] as I would have liked. On the other hand, Rapha and Licha [Martinez] were playing brilliantly and kept numerous clean sheets. I had to bide my time and be patient.
“I had two or three opportunities last season to get a run of games but I broke down with illness, I broke down with injuries twice, so I never got the rhythm and never got the run of games that I could prove myself to the manager. I have got that now.
“But I started 16 or 17 games last year and felt like my form was there. There was a lot of talk about me because I wasn’t playing games, but that is the way it is. I was playing well for my country, went to the World Cup and played well and always thought my form was there.
“But I am up against some top, top-level centre-backs and last year they were playing amazing, so I didn’t get as many opportunities as I would have liked. This club demands competition for places and that is what we have in my position.”
Ten Hag will be delighted with how Maguire has responded to being stripped of the captaincy and dropped from the starting eleven earlier in the season. He has shown a real desire to become an important player for Man Utd once again.
Ten Hag will probably now turn his attention to improving his faltering attack, as Marcus Rashford, Alejandro Garnacho and Rasmus Hojlund were all guilty of missing huge chances in the recent 1-0 victory over Luton Town.
