Man United: What next for Harry Maguire after captaincy axe - he wants to stay but surely time is up
Harry Maguire has a decision to make: stick or twist? The Manchester United defender was stripped of the captaincy by manager Erik ten Hag in a ruthless, but not unexpected, axing on Sunday.
Though he wants to stay and fight for his place, his first-team prospects - and his long-term future at United - look limited. Ten Hag's decision could be a watershed moment in the centre back deciding his time is now up.
England manager Gareth Southgate has admitted he is concerned by Maguire's lack of game time, meaning his chances of featuring at Euro 2024 - just 11 months away - could be significantly dented if he continues to warm the bench at Old Trafford.
United would be willing to sell him for the right price, and with West Ham interested, a move away could suit all parties. Will Maguire decide, and make known, that he wants to leave this summer?
Below, Mail Sport assesses his options and discusses which club would suit him best if he can secure a move away during the transfer window.
Removed as captain by ruthless Ten Hag
Manchester United was a hot mess of a club when Ten Hag took over. In that context, perhaps it made sense that the Dutchman retained Maguire as captain. Yet even in those early stages, his reign as captain was on shaky ground.
Cristiano Ronaldo and Paul Pogba were part of a delegation which urged interim boss Ralf Rangnick to drop him. Influential veteran Ronaldo - now at Al-Nassr - took him Maguire to task in the dressing room for saying in a TV interview after one game that United's forwards had to take their chances.
That situation was salvageable when he was a first-team regular. But with the return from injury of the classy Raphael Varane, and the £55m summer arrival of Ten Hag's man Lisandro Martinez from
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