"The chance is there for him" - Former Manchester United star hopes Harry Maguire can have a David Beckham-esqe redemption
Former Manchester United striker Dimitar Berbatov reckons defender Harry Maguire could redeem himself at Old Trafford like his compatriot David Beckham.
Maguire, 30, continues to be a key player for England manager Gareth Southgate, but the same cannot be said about his club boss Erik ten Hag.
Since arriving at Old Trafford in 2019, Maguire has bagged seven goals and six assists in 179 games across competitions. However, Maguire fell down the pecking order after Ten Hag's arrival last summer, making only 35 appearances across competitions, assisting once.
His fortunes haven't improved this summer, losing his club captaincy and starting just two of four games across competitions, assisting once.
Berbatov reckons the loss of captaincy would have stung Maguire, who was close to leaving this summer but stayed put. Urging Maguire to build on his good performance in the league outing against Brentford, which United won 2-1 at home, Berbatov told Betfair (as per GOAL):
"Harry Maguire was good against Brentford. The only thing he can do is stay concentrated when given the chance to perform and not make silly mistakes.
"When he speaks, you can see that Harry is confident in his ability. When he was given the captains armband, his confidence obviously increased, but so did his ego."
The Bulgarian reckons, just like Beckham bounced back from a horror campaign with England at the 1998 FIFA World Cup with a treble-winning season at Manchester United, Maguire could seek similar redemption:
"Now the captain’s armband has been taken away, his ego is hurt. He needs to start rebuilding his relationship with the fans again. The chance is there for him to show he can handle everything again.
"Maybe, like we saw in the Beckham documentary, Harry is going through that tough time right now, but, hopefully, in the end, he can find redemption at the end of his own movie."
Maguire played the full 90 minutes of England's 3-1 home win over Italy on Tuesday (October 17), which confirmed their place at UEFA Euro 2024.
What Harry Maguire has said about his situation at Manchester United
Manchester United defender Harry Maguire knows that he isn't playing enough games for his club recently. The 30-year-old knows that he cannot warm the bench for large swathes ahead of the Euro 2024 finals next summer in Germany.
In the absence of United's first-choice central defensive pair of Lisandro Martinez and Raphael Varane due to injury, Maguire has got some game time. He made the most of the opportunity with an assured performance in the last-gasp Brentford win just before the international break.
However, he plans to have a chat with the club soon and hinted about leaving if he doesn't get regular game time. The Englishman said while on international duty with England (as per GOAL):
"I am not going to sit here all my life and play once a month. If it carries on, I am sure myself and the club will sit down and have a chat about things.
"It's not my decision whether I start the next game for United or not. In a couple of weeks, I'll go back and find out. At the moment, I haven't been playing anywhere near as much as I would like. That is the bottom line."
Maguire is expected to start Manchester United's league clash at rock-bottom Sheffield United on Saturday (October 21).