Harry Maguire: Ruben Amorim told me it was a ‘no brainer’ to extend my deal | OneFootball

Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim told defender Harry Maguire it was “a no brainer” to extend the defender’s contract at the start of the month. Now the United stalwart wants to repay the Portuguese coach’s faith by rescuing United form their “embarrassing” season.

United are in the bottom half of the Premier League table and Maguire, 31, appeared to be at the end of his United career under previous managers Erik ten Hag and Ralph Rangnick.

Now he has regained his place, form and belief under Amorim, something never more apparent than the way he inspired the rearguard action that led the holders to an unlikely FA Cup penalty shoot-out win over Arsenal on Sunday.

Maguire said: “We put in a really good shift and limited them to not many chances after we went down to ten men. We also have to realise that we’re still where we are in the league table. We’ve got big games coming up. We can’t rest because the league table is to look at is embarrassing. We’ve got to kick on from this.”

The England defender, who signed for United from Leicester City in an £80million move in 2019, is kicking on himself, having just earned an extension to his current contract that was due to expire at the end of the season.

Amorim publicly declared Maguire needed to improve his game and leadership skills when he announced the news, but the player revealed he was more positive when they spoke in private.

“Ruben is really demanding,” Maguire stated. “He said to me when it came across to him (he became aware) that he had an option [to extend] that it was a no-brainer for him. It has given me confidence and belief they want me at the club, they want me part of this project and I’m happy to be here.

“I want this club to be about fighting for the title. It’s not fighting where we are at the moment where we are in midtable. We’ve got a long way to go. A good performance [against Arsenal] , but we’ve got to go again on Thursday [against Southampton].”

A pivotal moment in United’s win was Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard having a second half penalty by reserve keeper Altay Bayindir after Maguire was adjudged to have fouled Havertz. A mass brawl of sorts ensued as referee Andrew Madley, working without VAR, stuck by his decision.

“I thought, initially, instinctively it’ll be alright, as VAR will turn it over. And then I clicked that VAR could not intervene and my head went a little bit. No, it was a tough one. I think he probably looked back and knows he got it wrong. That’s why we have VAR. It’s because of the big moments; we need them correct really. It’s a tough gig if we don’t have help for them.

“I’m 31 now, coming up to 32 in a couple of months, but I’m getting back to [my best] level. I also think I was at that level last season as well, so it’s been 18 months now where I’d say I’ve been playing consistently well for this club again.

“No doubt I had a tough year in my third season when Ralph took over. I wasn’t at my best, I knew that I knew I needed to find something to stay at this club because it demands good standards, high standards. I feel like I’ve found something. Mentally, physically I feel good.”