Harry Maguire on Tuchel’s England phone call, ‘amazing’ Carrick and his one problem with Amorim | OneFootball

Harry Maguire was stepping onto a late afternoon flight to Bournemouth with his Manchester United teammates when a WhatsApp message pinged his phone. It was the England manager, Thomas Tuchel, asking if they could talk that evening.

Butterflies fluttered. Maguire hadn’t played for England for nearly two years, since he appeared in a Nations League game against Ireland in 2024. He had never played for Tuchel and there had been very little contact from the manager since he took the job last January. “I knew if I missed this camp, I don’t think I would have been back in the England setup,” Maguire admitted.

The defender has endured a mixed season. He struggled for form and fitness under Ruben Amorim and felt inhibited by the manager’s beloved back-three formation. But a run of games in Michael Carrick’s transformed United side have kindled faint hopes of playing in a third World Cup, at the age of 33.

Sitting on the plane, Maguire turned to fellow England prospect Kobbie Mainoo. “I asked Kobbie if he’d got a text as well and he said, ‘yeah’,” Maguire smiles. That offered some reassurance and, two hours later, Tuchel rang to confirm he was finally back in the England squad for World Cup warm-up games against Uruguay and Japan at Wembley.

Maguire rang round his family to share the news. His mum cried, though she was on holiday in Spain at the time and he suggests the tears may have been helped along by a few Sangrias. “It felt a bit like my first call-up,” he says. “I’ve played 60-odd games for England and been to three major tournaments, but when you’re playing every game, you don’t want to take it for granted, but you get comfortable with the setup. And then when it’s taken away from you all of a sudden, it hurts.”

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Harry Maguire in training for England at St George's Park (The FA via Getty Images)

Maguire is speaking in a quiet room at England’s second home, St George’s Park, in Burton-upon-Trent, back where he feels he belongs. He spent seven years as a mainstay under Gareth Southgate, first on the left side of a back three and later in a pairing with John Stones. Over the past two years he had to get used to watching England as a fan again, taking his career full circle, back to when he was a Hull City player travelling around France with friends watching Euro 2016 from the stands.

“It did hurt [to watch England] but I still wanted them to win,” he says. “I have a lot of friends here. There are times when you feel like you should be in the squad and then that probably hurts a little bit more, but the last three camps I wasn’t fit, I wasn’t playing every game for Manchester United, I was in and out, I was playing three games and getting injured. When you don’t build up that rhythm, you don’t really have an excuse.

“It hurt more when I watched them in the final against Spain, losing that game [Euro 2024 final].”

Away from England, Maguire focused on performing for his club. He enjoyed working with Amorim but felt the central role in a back three limited his best attributes, consigned to be a sweeper when he wanted to roam and charge and challenge opponents physically. His freedom to carry the ball upfield was clipped, and it all added to the narrative that he was a fading force.

“When you’re playing in a back five and you’re playing that middle one, automatically people think you’re a little bit older and can’t move as much. I’ve always said I much prefer playing in a back four. I feel like I can play more aggressive, play more on the front foot and I feel like that’s a big part of my game.”

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Harry Maguire’s club form has put him back in the picture for England (Owen Humphreys/PA)

Amorim will be a great manager, Maguire insists. It just didn’t click. “I really like Ruben, I think he’s got great ideas. Those ideas just didn’t work at Manchester United. I do believe he’ll go on and have an amazing career. At his next club he’ll probably go and win many, many football matches.”

Carrick’s reign has been transformational. Maguire has enjoyed the freedom of a back four as United have climbed the table to third, in a strong position to qualify for next season’s Champions League with seven games to go. Surely the players want him to stay beyond the summer?

“Listen, Carrick coming in, he’s been amazing. He speaks really, really well. He’s tactically very, very good. He’s brought in some amazing staff, [such as] Steve Holland. [But] it’s not up to us. I think we’ve got to finish the season strong, and then I think he should go right into the mix with the other candidates.

“It’s going to be a big summer. We know that for Manchester United. We need bodies in to help the squad. It’s going to be a big recruitment in the management department, and I’m sure the hierarchy will get it right.”

Maguire has stayed fit and found form in recent weeks, ironically right up until Tuchel’s phone call. The next night he scored a goal at Bournemouth. but was sent off as United settled for a draw – “a harsh” red card, he says.

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Maguire is competing for a place on the plane to North America (The FA via Getty Images)

A one-game suspension means he won’t play for United again until 18 April at the earliest, when they travel to Chelsea. That time off will at least offer a window to speak to the club about his future, with his contract expiring at the end of the season. Maguire wants to stay, and the way he talks suggests that something might almost be agreed.

“What that agreement is, I’m sure you’ll find out over the next few weeks,” he said. “I think it’ll get sorted sooner rather than later, whether I stay or leave. I love this club, but it’s got to be right for myself, it’s got to be right for the club as well. I don’t want to be staying on a sentimental value. I want to be staying because I want to be there and the club want me to drive the club forward still, and they feel like I’ve got a big part to play in it.

“[I want to be] playing games and helping the team on and off the pitch. I want to be important to the club. So we need to sit down and speak – and I’ve got a long time off now with the red card.”

Only three months ago, Maguire’s international and club careers appeared to be in their winter days. Suddenly they are in full bloom again. He never gave up hope of travelling to North America to experience one more World Cup as a player, rather than a fan, when summer comes around. “I kept it free, just in case,” he smiles.