Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim believes the form of Harry Maguire warrants a place in Thomas Tuchel's first England squad.
New Three Lions boss Tuchel will next week name his selection for the World Cup qualifiers against Albania and Latvia later this month. And while United's results have been far from impressive this season, Amorim reckons that Maguire has still proved himself worthy of a recall for his country after missing the last five internationals.
Maguire was left out of Gareth Southgate's squad for Euro 2024 due to fitness doubts and his struggles to convince Erik ten Hag that he was good enough for United when the Dutchman was in charge at Old Trafford. But Amorim said: "I would be really happy for Harry. I think he deserves it.
"He is a great guy. I think he needs to still improve, because when you are a player you can improve every time. But I think his performances at the moment are quite good. You feel that he is more of a leader now that can help a national team. So I hope he is in the national team in the next games."
Tuchel could've been in Amorim's position had the German's talks with United gone well last summer, but instead he now has the task of leading England to World Cup glory in 2026. Maguire will hope to be the bedrock of his defence, with the Three Lions currently not blessed when it comes to centre-back options.
The 31-year-old admits that missing Euro 2024 was the 'toughest moment of his career', saying after England's final defeat to Spain: "To have an injury which was, to be honest, not a big injury … it was just a calf injury, only a three-week injury, but I just had three setbacks with it.
"When I first did the injury, I thought I'd be fit for the FA Cup final. So I pushed myself for the final, and then I had a setback in the week leading up to the final which ruled me out of it. At that time again, it was no problem, I was going to be fit for the Euros. Then I went away with England and I had another setback. It was so frustrating.
"When I look back, I wish I had no chance with all of them, so I could have got my head around it. But I thought I was going to play in the Cup Final or be involved at some stage, and I thought 100 per cent I'd be involved at the Euros.
"But it just didn't happen and maybe I just pushed myself to get back too early. It was the toughest moment of my career, definitely."
Comments
Leave a Comment