Dropped by Man United, Maguire becomes an issue for England

Harry Maguire has been dropped by Manchester United despite being its club captain and the most expensive defender in soccer history.

The big question now: How will that affect his place in England's team ahead of the World Cup?

England coach Gareth Southgate has previously said he finds it difficult to select players in his squad if they aren't featuring for their clubs. And Maguire only has to look at some of his teammates at United — Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho, Luke Shaw — to see Southgate often has been true to his word.

Maguire could prove to be a different case.

First, Maguire might now be behind Lisandro Martinez and Raphael Varane in the pecking order of center backs at United but he will still get minutes — perhaps most weeks in the lead-up to the World Cup — because of the team's involvement in the Europa League, when manager Erik ten Hag will likely rotate. That gives Maguire at least six matches, injury-permitting, if not more should Martinez and Varane have any fitness issues themselves.

Then there's Southgate's options at center back, which aren't plentiful.

There's John Stones, who isn't exactly a guaranteed starter at Manchester City given the Premier League champions now have five central defenders in their squad. Conor Coady recently left Wolverhampton, where he had lost his place, to join struggling Everton, and Tyrone Mings was dropped by Aston Villa at the start of the season only to recently regain his place because of injuries.

Crystal Palace's Marc Guehi and AC Milan's Fikayo Tomori have been in and out of England's squads over the past year but neither is currently a player Southgate can rely on.

Maguire, then, might be safe for the time being, especially since he's been a regular under