Ruben Amorim tells Thomas Tuchel what to do with Harry Maguire after changing Man Utd view

Ruben Amorim has explained whether or not he wants Harry Maguire to be back in the England squad after the Manchester United defender’s recent resurgence.

Thomas Tuchel will soon have to pick his first England squad for the March international break. Whether or not Maguire will be in it will be interesting to see; the 31-year-old only earned two England caps in 2024, one in March under Gareth Southgate and one in September under Lee Carsley.

Maguire has had a rollercoaster of a Man Utd career, but has built up more gametime under Amorim and recently scored against Ipswich Town.

And according to Amorim, the ex-Leicester City centre-back ‘deserves’ to be playing international football again thanks to his improving form.

“If it’s enough is down to the national coach,” Amorim said.

“I would be really happy for him, 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 and improve a lot of things.

“But I think his performances in the moment are quite good and you feel he is more a leader now that can help a national team, so I hope he is in the national team in the next games.”

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Some managers don’t want their players being called up for international duty so they don’t get overworked, but Amorim would clearly be happy for Maguire to get recognition from Tuchel as it would no doubt be a new confidence boost.

And Amorim calling Maguire a ‘leader’ is in itself a sign of how views are changing about the defender. Erik ten Hag famously took the Man Utd captaincy away from Maguire and gave it to Bruno Fernandes, but it now looks like Maguire is back among the leadership group at Old Trafford.

He even wore the captain’s armband earlier this season – when Ten Hag was still in charge – for an EFL Cup third round match against Barnsley.

Next on the schedule for Maguire and Man Utd is an FA Cup fifth round clash with Fulham at 4:30pm on Sunday.

Another Man Utd defender backed to improve/Amorim gets Solskjaer nod

Meanwhile, one of Maguire’s defensive colleagues has been tipped for greatness by a former Man Utd player.

Mikael Silvestre believes summer signing Leny Yoro is destined to follow in the footsteps of fellow Frenchmen, William Saliba (Arsenal) and Ibrahima Konate (Liverpool).

“From his time in Lille, we’ve seen that he’s athletically dominant, he makes the right calls when recovering the ball and has good timing,” Silvestre told the Daily Mirror.

“It’s unfortunate that he got injured early in pre-season because I think he will be a major force at United in the coming years.

“He still has some things that he can learn, of course, he is not the finished article, but he’s got so much potential. When you look at Saliba and Konate for France, for me he is next in line.”

In other news, Amorim has been given a vote of confidence by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, who has explained why Man Utd have gone through so many managers in recent years.

And the Red Devils are also increasingly eager to sign a top Ligue 1 midfielder.

How long will Amorim be in charge?