Erik ten Hag's comments on Raphael Varane suggest he's changed mind on Harry Maguire

Erik ten Hag has explained Raphael Varane's absence from the Manchester United starting XI by heaping praise on his replacement Harry Maguire.

During the opening exchanges of the season, it was Varane who was named in the lineup each week alongside Lisandro Martinez and then Victor Lindelof. Fresh from having the captain's armband stripped of him in the summer, Maguire was forced to make do with a role watching on from the bench until the Red Devils suffered a minor defensive injury crisis.

After Varane was subject to a spell on the sidelines, Maguire stepped up in the Frenchman's absence and barely put a foot wrong. The former Real Madrid man has actually been fit to feature since late September, but such is the level Maguire is operating at right now, Ten Hag has no interest in taking him out of the side.

Since early October, the United boss has opted to let Maguire start and complete the full 90 minutes in eight games across the Premier League, Carabao Cup and Champions League. In contrast, Varane has lasted an entire 90 minutes just three times since the second game of the season, two of which have ended in defeat.

In turn, Ten Hag has faced questions over Maguire's resurgence and offered up an insight into how he views his central defensive pecking order. The comments read like the United boss has changed his tune on the former Leicester ace, who looked destined for the Old Trafford scrap heap last summer.

"He [Maguire] took his chance," Ten Hag explained. "We were talking about injured players, he took his chance when Rapha [Varane] was absent.

"There is internal competition, which is normal in big clubs. When your chance comes, you must seize it and the others must fight to find their place."

Maguire himself recently