Although the Manchester United captain has found it difficult to spend the majority of the season on the sidelines, his only attention is now on attempting to help the team win more championships.
When the Old Trafford giants paid Leicester £80 million to acquire the 30-year-old defender in 2019, he became the most expensive defender in history.
Within six months of arriving at United, Maguire was promoted to captain, and he has since experienced his fair share of ups and downs.
Although Erik ten Hag stated the under-fire England defender will continue to wear the captain’s armband, this season he has transitioned from a regular to a squad player.
‘Listen, I’m not going to stand here and say I love it, or that I like it,’ said Maguire, who made just his sixth Premier League start of the season in Saturday’s 2-0 victory against Everton. I don’t.
“I want to play every game, and I have for the last eight of my career,” the player said.
‘I also have to respect the manager’s decisions and the fierce rivalry at center back in this club. Indeed, I do think it is.
Listen, I want to perform well, I want to win, and most importantly for the team, I want to have an impact on the game when I get the chance.
“Of course I want to play every game, and I’m sure if you spoke to our center backs in their roles, they are all seasoned veterans who have competed at the highest level, and they will all be sad when sitting on the bench,” he said. The same applies to me.
At Manchester United, Maguire has made 13 starts in all competitions this season. During the same time, he has started nine games for England, including all five of their World Cup appearances.
He was ruмored to be moving in the middle of the season but stayed put and won his first title in February when Ten Hag’s club won the Carabao Cup.
Maguire’s future is still a topic of discussion, but for the time being, he is just concerned with helping his team win the FA Cup and Europa League, as well as finish in the top four.
Listen, we’ve got a really busy season coming up, he added. “My thinking is that I want to bring the club another two trophies,” I said. I enjoyed raising the Carabao Cup, and I hope to raise two more.
‘I will practice as hard as I can and take each game as it comes since I’m confident I’ll get many starts between now and the end of the season,’ he said.
It’s not like I haven’t begun, you know. Before the international break, I started the last two games against Fulham and Betis.
It’s not like I’ve been excluded or not involved, either. As a football player, I certainly want to play in every game, but I still play in a lot of them.
The manager cannot play all four, as I’m certain every other center back in the locker room feels.
Following an unsuccessful season on both a personal and team level, Maguire believes he has “been in a really good place and I’m performing pretty well.”
Overall performance has increased under Ten Hag, whose preferred center-back pairing is summer acquisition Lisandro Martinez and Raphael Varane, who had fitness issues last season.
According to Maguire, “this year I believe I am in a good place emotionally and physically, and every time I’ve started a game of football I’ve done just that,”
I am aware that this team has outstanding center backs, though.
We have four elite international center backs who are capable of playing at the highest level. Including myself, Victor (Lindelof), Lich (Martinez), and Rapha.
“It’s great that we have all four of us, and I know that between now and the conclusion of the season, we’ll push each other and compete fiercely for positions.”
“But you also have to make sure that you train hard, make sure you are ready, and make sure that you are ready to figҺт and that you seize that opportunity when you get that chance,” he added.
