Gary Neville has claimed that Manchester United are ‘trying to manage Harry Maguire out of the club’ after he was left on the bench against Wolves.
Much uncertainty remains over the centre-back’s future at Old Trafford after Man United accepted a £30million offer from West Ham to sign him.
Mail Sport reported that the Hammers were waiting to see if Maguire will choose to join them, meanwhile, the Red Devils want to secure a replacement before they let the defender leave.
Maguire started on the bench for Man United during their opening Premier League game against Wolves.
Erik ten Hag had opted to start Lisandro Martinez and Raphael Varane as his two centre-backs, but decided not to bring Maguire on when he made a defensive change going into the second-half.
Gary Neville believes Manchester United ‘are trying to manage Harry Maguire out of the club’
Lisandro Martinez was replaced for the second-half after receiving a booking, though Ten Hag opted to bring on Victor Lindelof instead of Maguire
Martinez meanwhile was given a yellow card for a foul in the first-half and looked as though he could receive a second booking, making several ‘rash’ challenges during the opening 45 minutes.
When asked whether the booking was the reason why Martinez was taken off, Neville told Sky Sports: ‘One-hundred per cent. Martinez tonight looks a little rash in his performance. I think he’s one away from being booked.’
At half-time, he was replaced by Victor Lindelof instead of Maguire, slotting in a role where the England centre-back more often plays as the left-sided centre-back.
And noting the tactic, Neville, who was on punditry duty during Monday Night Football, claimed that the club were trying to engineer a way to get the former captain out of the club.
Neville said: ‘They’re trying to manage Harry Maguire out of the club and get their money for him there is no doubt about that.’
Maguire, who could take a £70,000 pay cut should he join West Ham, has fallen down the pecking order behind Varane and Martinez, making just 16 Premier League appearances for the club last season, which included only eight starts.
The defender joined the club for a world record £80m transfer for a defender in 2019 and is contracted to the club until 2025.
Erik ten Hag stripped Harry Maguire of the captain’s armband during the summer break
And earlier this week, his manager implied that there could be a place for him in his squad going forward if he can ‘prove himself’.
‘He has the ability to be a top-class centre-back,’ Ten Hag said in a press conference.
‘He is the best for England so why shouldn’t he be the best for us?
‘But he has to prove it. When he is not confident enough to fight then he has to go, then he has to make a decision. But I’m happy with him.’
During Monday Night Football, Neville was also asked to grade Ten Hag’s first season in charge and noted how he took control at the club when it came to certain issues involving Cristiano Ronaldo and relieving the England defender from his captaincy duties.
‘Excellent,’ he said, speaking on Ten Hag’s first season in charge.
‘From where they were the year before with Ralf Rangnick and the start of the season when they lost all those games against Brighton and Brentford, I was really happy with how he did last season, because what I think he did was establish control.
‘He established control with Cristiano Ronaldo, he established control with the captaincy and Harry Maguire, the way in which he dealt with empathy with Jadon Sancho, I felt really difficult situations, particularly after that Brentford game to be fair where they were at a crisis point – I think he did really well Erik Ten Hag.
‘I think players in the changing room know who the manager is.’
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