Manchester United have been urged to consider the prospect of selling club captain Harry Maguire by former defender Paul Parker.
Speaking to the Express, former Manchester United defender Paul Parker has called on the club to consider selling captain and defensive mainstay Harry Maguire in the summer transfer window.
Manchester United signed Maguire from Leicester City in the summer of 2019. The Englishman arrived at the club for a massive fee of £80 million – a world record for a defender. While he started well and was soon elevated to the status of club captain, the ex-Hull City man has proven to be error-prone.
The mistakes have been happening very regularly in the ongoing campaign, which has led to a lot of criticism directed towards Maguire, while there have also been calls for him to be removed as captain. At the same time, reports have claimed that things are not all too well in the dressing room between the England international and Cristiano Ronaldo, which manager Ralf Rangnick has dismissed.
But, Paul Parker, who spent five years at Manchester United between 1991 and 1996, has opined that the club would be better off getting rid of Maguire and sticking with the pairing of Raphael Varane and Victor Lindelof.
“If United, in my opinion, were to get somewhere near to their money back on Harry Maguire, I think they’ll have to think about it,” he said. “I think [Victor] Lindelof and [Raphael] Varane, you know, they could build something on there maybe, in a mode of what they’re looking for and where the club wants to be.
“You’re talking about players who are definitely more agile, a little bit quicker, better defenders in one against one situations, and I think you have to look at it that way. I don’t know if it’s going to happen. Me, personally, for United to go forward, that’s the starting area.
“But again the same old scenario – you don’t want the manager coming in and all of a sudden, he comes in, he wants to do stuff and then he stops, the people above stop him from doing what he wants to do and then United go through the same stories,” Parker added.
Maguire is contracted with Manchester United until the summer of 2025. The club have the option of extending the 28-year-old’s stay by an additional twelve months. Rangnick has shown that he is prepared to axe the captain from the starting lineup on a few occasions. However, with a new manager expected to come in before next season, what the future holds for Maguire and United remains to be seen.