Harry Maguire explains how he handles terrace taunts with England & why is still at Man Utd despite playing just 23 minutes in 2023-24

The 30-year-old defender has endured a testing few months, with the club captaincy taken off him at Old Trafford. He has seen just 23 minutes of game time at club level through the opening weeks of the 2023-24 campaign and was jeered relentlessly when in England friendly action against Scotland before scoring an own goal at Hampden Park.

Maguire has told reporters of turning a deaf ear to his detractors: “I would not say I am a person who struggles with pressure mentally. I have been through a lot in the last couple of years and I have been Manchester United captain for nearly four years. You take a huge lot of responsibility and everything that comes with it - and that is a lot of bad as well as good. (At Hampden) they piled pressure on myself. I would not say I am used to it but I can deal with it. I am disappointed with the own goal but that is football. You are a centre-back and you put yourselves in those positions. I am really pleased with how I performed in the second half and how I dealt with it.”

Maguire had opportunities to leave Old Trafford during the summer transfer window, but no deal was done despite slipping down the pecking order under Erik ten Hag. He added on sticking around in Manchester, with his contract due to run until 2025 and there a desire on his part to play his way back into the team: “I think it was a bit of both. How can I put this? We just didn’t come to an agreement and they were happy for me to stay and I was happy to fight for my place. I want to do that and every time I train or play I will give everything. I know, at the moment, when I have not started a game in the first four games of the season, the story comes to me. So, I need to keep performing when I get chosen. Listen, at club football, I want to play games. The first four weeks were hard because it was one game a week and the manager didn’t select me but we have lots of games coming up now and I am sure I will play lots of games.”

Erik ten Hag took the armband off Maguire, handing it to Bruno Fernandes instead, and has been favouring the likes of Lisandro Martinez, Raphael Varane and Victor Lindelof when it comes to filling centre-half berths for United at the start of the new season.