Injury struggles ‘really frustrating’- Maguire

Manchester United defender Harry Maguire says missing out on the two career highlights of playing in the FA Cup final and representing England at Euro 2024 was “tough” and ” really frustrating”.

Maguire’s first reaction when he sustained the training injury was that it would be “tight” to recover in time for the final against Manchester City at Wembley four weeks later, but a setback in the week of the game, which United memorably won 2-1, ended his hopes.

Another setback on England duty led to Gareth Southgate leaving him out of his European Championship squad because he could not risk taking Maguire and United team-mate Luke Shaw to Germany when neither were fully fit.

“No I didn’t,” said Maguire when asked by BBC Sport if he thought he would miss both showpiece events.

“It was always going to be tight for the cup final but I still believed I would be available. But when I had a setback in cup final week I thought: ‘I will be fine for the Euros.’ But then I went away with England and had another setback.

“It has been really frustrating, working all season to get myself mentally and physically at the top of my game and be in a position to feel I could really make a difference for Manchester United and my country. To miss out was tough.”

Maguire earned praise last season for refusing to quit United when he was stripped of the captaincy by manager Erik ten Hag and at times dropped down to fifth-choice central defender.

He made 31 appearances, despite not starting a Premier League game until October.

Even with a year left on his contract, the former Leicester defender is ready for a renewed challenge for his first-team slot.

“There was a lot of uncertainty over my future last year but I sat down with the manager, he told me where I was at, said he believed in me and I would get chances,” said Maguire.

“I proved last season when I got the chances I took them really well.”

United’s FA Cup final victory probably saved Ten Hag’s job but Maguire knows the eighth-placed Premier League finish was not good enough.

With a new boardroom structure in place, the 31-year-old expects improvement but is realistic about how immediate it might be.

“I don’t think we will go from finishing eighth in the league to winning all the trophies overnight,” he added.

“But I do think we are moving in the right direction now and the decisions that have been made at the top will help this club get back to where it should be.”