Gary Lineker outlines England theory on Manchester United man but Alan Shearer left puzzled

Gary Lineker believes England's lack of defensive options and Harry Maguire's experience is keeping him in Gareth Southgate's starting XIs.

Many supporters and pundits have been bewildered by Southgate's persistence to continue selecting Maguire for the Three Lions' squads despite his lack of game time for Manchester United. Erik ten Hag attempted to sell the centre-back in the summer to West Ham but the move broke down due to wages.

Despite having Fikayo Tomori, Lewis Dunk and Levi Colwill to chose from, Maguire partnered Crystal Palace's Marc Guehi during the 1-1 draw with Ukraine on Saturday. Appearing on The Rest is Football Podcast, Lineker outlined why he was not as concerned as some by United's former captain continuing to make the squad.

He said: "I don’t have a problem as such with Harry Maguire, I know he hasn’t played much football but he has been consistently good with England and we don’t have a lot of central defenders. Because he (Southgate) was playing Guehi, he probably wanted someone with experience alongside him. Maguire has been consistently good for England so I understand why [he was picked]."

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But Lineker's fellow podcast lynchpin Alan Shearer felt Southgate's policy would leave some of the youngsters in the squad scratching their heads.

"Those youngsters will be thinking: ‘What the hell, he is not even playing’," Shearer added. "Absolutely they have every right to be thinking that."

Despite drawing with Ukraine, England are on track to qualify for next summer's European Championships in Germany. They sit top of their qualifying group with four wins and a draw from their first five matches.

United's Adidas home shirt is made up of the same