England manager Gareth Southgate has confessed Harry Maguire may find himself forced to make a decision on his Manchester United future, admitting he cannot guarantee minutes to a player who is not a regular for his club.
Southgate has consistently defended Maguire and has shown the centre-back plenty of faith at international level, despite the fact he has tumbled down the pecking order at United under Erik ten Hag.
Maguire managed 31 club appearances last season, of which just eight were Premier League starts, and was removed as United captain this summer in favour of Bruno Fernandes.
90min understands Maguire has long been determined to stay and fight for his place at United, although the England international has attracted interest in the Premier League. West Ham recently saw a £20m bid rejected for his services, with United asking for a higher fee.
Should Maguire remain at United, he is likely to see limited minutes behind Lisandro Martinez and Raphael Varane – something Southgate acknowledged could make selecting him for England somewhat challenging.
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“We’re not in a world where we’re cuddling,” Southgate told talkSPORT. “It’s a tough world, professional football.
“It doesn’t baffle me as they have two top players in Varane and Martinez there. You will always be challenged, they will sign top players every year. If you’re Man Utd you want good backups, you get injuries, you’ve got Champions League, you want to push for the Premier League. They will be comfortable with Harry staying as back-up or being in the team. If he’s not in the team he’s got a decision to make whether he wants to get regular football elsewhere. Top players want to play every week.
“It depends on how players at other clubs are doing. I can never guarantee a player we will pick them. He and John Stones has been a partnership that’s been brilliant for us, but we’ve got young centre-backs coming up who are getting that experience and that will be the challenge going forward.”
Southgate went on to name Chelsea’s Levi Colwill, Manchester City’s Taylor Harwood-Bellis and Crystal Palace’s Marc Guehi as possible threats to Maguire’s position.
“We went there to get to know the players better,” he explained. “I thought Harwood-Bellis and Colwill both were very good. One in the Championship, Levi at Brighton.
“Now can [Colwill] get into Chelsea’s first team? He’s a very good player. It’s interesting with Marc Guehi coming up as well, we need that competition.”
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