There was a certain simplicity to Manchester United’s first bit of business in 2025. They have spent more than £200m in the summer. They are still trying to offload players who want to leave Old Trafford. But there was one who was keen to stay, but given no say in the matter. On 3 January, United triggered the clause to keep Harry Maguire for a further season.
It was a symbolic decision and proof of a personal renaissance. Maguire could have joined West Ham in 2023, but showed his stubbornness by fighting for his place. Now a player whose trials and tribulations were capped when he was stripped of the captaincy by former manager Erik ten Hag has been appointed to United’s leadership group by Ruben Amorim. And when his extended deal expires next summer, Maguire hinted that, no matter who else may approach him, his preference is United.
Not that he was given a choice in January. “There was no talking,” he said. “It was just they activated it and it got extended. This year, obviously I’m up at the end of the year. I’m pretty sure the club have made it aware this summer that I can’t leave the club on any terms with other clubs enquiring about my things and my position with my contract.
“I’m sure over the next few months they’ll sit down and we’ll have to have a conversation about where we want to go and if they want to extend or obviously the transfer window will open again in January. I have something in my mind about what I want to do and what I want to be. It’s an amazing club to play for and you’d be silly if you wanted to jump out of it as soon as you could.”
Yet Maguire could have been forgiven for jumping, in his own words, into somewhere less pressurised, where the spotlight shone less brightly. But, while he accepted things went very wrong for a while, he feels his struggles were more short-lived than his critics would suggest.
“It’s been a couple of years now where I feel like I’ve played really well for this club again,” he said. “I only had six months really where I had a bad dip of form. The previous two years was excellent. I’ve been a lot better in the last two-and-a-half years. Now I’m in a good place with the club and the fans. I’ve got a real good bond with them.”
Maguire’s dogged devotion to the United cause has been allied with a happy habit of scoring crucial late goals. He has still been much mocked but, he argued, by supporters of other clubs. It puts him in fine company.
“I do believe that a lot of the social media laughing and joking and the memes and things like that are rival fans,” he said. “It’s part and parcel of playing for this club. I’m sure the likes of David Beckham and Wayne Rooney went through [it] and they are world-class players. Wayne’s one of the best players to play for England and this club and he had so much abuse. So you’re going to get it.”
Maguire has arguably got it more than most. He can seem an easy scapegoat but said: “I’ve always been quite good at handling criticism. It doesn’t really get to me or bother me too much. I’ve been mentally strong throughout it all.”
Now he is trying to offer his advice to United’s younger players. Their worst season for half a century culminated in a 15th-place finish; more ammunition for the abusive. “I’m sure they’d have been getting slaughtered left, right and centre, if I’m being honest,” Maguire said. “I hope they don’t go on and read the comments when they’ve made a mistake or made a bad game or read the direct messages or whatever they are on Instagram.”
A reason for Maguire’s popularity within the club is his willingness to set the right example. He visited the Manchester United Foundation’s holiday camp at Stretford Sports Village this week. The sign of a leader, perhaps, and, along with Tom Heaton, Lisandro Martinez, Diogo Dalot, Noussair Mazraoui and Bruno Fernandes, he is in the leadership group. “I think the manager wanted a group of players that he can speak to instead of piling it all on Bruno all the time,” said Maguire, who can testify to the demands of the captaincy.
His day job in defence equips him with a knowledge of forwards and he is excited by the trio United have recruited for a combined £200m, in Matheus Cunha, Bryan Mbeumo and Benjamin Sesko.
“This club demands players who create chances, score goals and that’s what it’s done throughout its history,” Maguire said. “You know that in one moment Matheus can score from anywhere or he can produce that little bit of magic or Bryan can score at the back post or he can curl one in and then Benjamin has got great physical attributes and he’s quick and he’s strong and he’s tall.”
Maguire didn’t make the cut for the first game of the season, starting on the bench for Sunday’s defeat to Arsenal. He is quick to stress, however, that he believes he and Matthijs de Ligt can play together and are not just competing for the spot in the middle of the back three.
Otherwise, he is enthused by the fresh start the new campaign brings. “Last season was so tough to play in,” he said. “The situation that we were in, February, March time, we’ve got nothing to play for, apart from the Europa League. It was real tough.”
The hope for United is that last season represents rock bottom and that they can bounce back up. And if so, Maguire, who has recovered from his personal nadir, may be a fine role model.
