Manchester United have another striker option to turn to

There was an ambiguous answer from Harry Maguire to the question of whether he feels properly appreciated. “For England, yes, I do,” Maguire replied.

Maguire has enjoyed near-constant backing from Manchester United supporters, bar some pantomime cheers at his removal as their season petered out against Atletico Madrid last season. In the next game, his crass chant reserved for England duty was aired for one time only as a riposte to the little England ingrates who booed him a week earlier.

At the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium, Maguire cut loose in victory. "I shouldn’t really need to prove myself at this level," he opined. At international level, Maguire has had a commendable career that comprises of three fine tournament performances and seven goals. Maguire nodded in at the 2018 World Cup and the European Championship in 2021, when he was rightly named in the team of the tournament.

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But Maguire's statement jars with Erik ten Hag's outlook. You could count on one hand how many Ten Hag press conferences have been staged without the United manager reiterating "good is not good enough" or "satisfaction leads to laziness".

The zenith of Maguire's United career was also the nadir. His introduction in the dying embers of a cup final was reminiscent of Wayne Rooney's introduction on his final appearance for the club in the Europa League final in 2017. Maguire emerged as much to be ready to hoist his first trophy as to preserve United's clean sheet.

That act alone confirmed the game is up for Maguire. United plan on selling him in the summer, which has made Maguire's recent selections over Victor Lindelof curious. Lindelof has started in six of United's last 25 games and,