Harry Maguire Talks About His  “Exit an Toughest Moment” After Being Denied Two Landmark Opportunities

Harry Maguire Talks About His  “Exit an Toughest Moment” After Being Denied Two Landmark Opportunities

Harry Maguire has said that missing the FA Cup final and Euro 2024 due to injury was the toughest time of his career.

 

Maguire sustained a calf injury that kept him out of Manchester United’s 2-1 FA Cup win over local rivals Manchester City, and then another setback forced him to miss the Euros.

 

When asked about his unhappy summer, United and England defender Maguire said: “It was probably the toughest moment of my career.” I worked extremely hard all year to put myself in a physically and mentally strong position to play the FA Cup final and then consider the Euros.

 

“To have an injury that was, to be honest, not a significant ailment – it was only a calf issue, but it was only for three weeks – but I had three setbacks.

 

In His Words?

“When I first got injured, I thought I’d be ready for the FA Cup final. So I pushed myself for the final, but I suffered a setback in the week going up to it, which eliminated me. At the moment, it didn’t matter; I was going to be fit for the Euros. Then I went overseas with England and had another setback, so yeah, it was quite difficult. Reported By Mirror.

 

“When I look back, I wish I hadn’t had a chance with any of them, so I could have wrapped my brain around it. But it didn’t happen, and perhaps I pushed myself to return too soon.”

 

Maguire claimed he was able to put his personal sadness aside and cheer on his England teammates, who reached the final and came agonisingly close to winning the event.

 

“I managed to get over it and was still in contact with a lot of the lads,” Maguire recalled. “Obviously, a lot of them are my really good close friends, and while it was difficult that I wasn’t over there, they made me feel like I was still a part of the group.

 

 

Graeme Souness on Man Utd

Graeme Souness during his role as a Sky Sports pundit

Graeme Souness has hinted that Man Utd boss Erik ten Hag should strip the Red Devils captaincy from Bruno Fernandes as he won’t “change” his attitude.

 

 

 

The Portugal international is widely regarded as one of the best post-Sir Alex Ferguson signings and was one of the bright sparks last season as Man Utd finished eighth in the Premier League.

 

Fernandes replaced Harry Maguire as the club captain last summer with Ten Hag and the Red Devils looking to sell the England international.

 

However, Maguire stayed and played a key role as injuries mounted up last season and Fernandes has received criticism over his captaincy with the Portuguese midfielder regularly gesticulating wildly when he’s not happy on the pitch.

 

And Souness has questioned whether the Man Utd skipper has the attributes needed to be the club’s captain long term under Ten Hag.

 

Souness said on the Three Up Front podcast: “When you look at leaders in the modern game, one example is at Manchester United, which is one of the biggest institutions in world football.

 

“The club captain is Bruno Fernandes. When they were 3-0 down against Liverpool a couple of seasons ago, he just threw the towel in… he’s the captain!

 

“If anything, he should still be contributing, running around with enthusiasm and helping his teammates.

 

 

“I don’t think Fernandes can change that aspect of himself – it’s part of him. When he’s shrugging his shoulders and throwing his arms around, that’s just him.”

 

There have been reports that French champions Paris Saint-Germain have expressed an interest in Fernandes this summer but former Man Utd defender Steve Bruce insists that the Red Devils must keep him.

 

 

On the speculation, Bruce told talkSPORT: “He cannot leave. Look, for me, the one shining light in the last few years at Manchester United has been Bruno.

 

 

“I mean, he plays with huge intensity. Yes, he gets a bit frustrated at times and can be a bit petulant at times, but in terms of a footballer, just look at the statistics…

 

“He plays 50 games a season and he scores 15 to 20 goals a season and is at the top of the assists too. He is a top, top player… you don’t want to be losing him.”

 

Transfer expert Fabrizio Romano insists that Bayern Munich defender Noussair Mazraoui does not prefer a move to West Ham over Man Utd and the Red Devils still need to sell Aaron Wan-Bissaka before they can sell.

 

Romano wrote in his Caught Offside: “Despite the rumours, I’m not aware of Noussair Mazraoui preferring a move to West Ham over Man United.

 

“Man United still have Aaron Wan-Bissaka and they need him to leave first in order to bring in a new right-back.

 

“The situation whilst I’m writing is that West Ham can make a deal happen now as they have agreed terms with Bayern, but they’re still working on the player side.

 

“It’s also true that Wan-Bissaka would like to move to Italy but at the moment it’s not something advanced or concrete.

 

“An idea offered by intermediaries since April/May was a swap deal with Inter’s Denzel Dumfries, but it’s just agents trying to make a deal for two players out of contract in 2025.”