Ruben Amorim will ‘happily’ trigger option to keep Harry Maguire at Man Utd

Manchester United will trigger their one-year option to keep former captain Harry Maguire at Old Trafford next season, with Ruben Amorim saying his side are “starving for leaders on the pitch”.

The 31-year-old’s current deal expires in the summer, but the club hold a one-year option and Amorim told a press conference on Friday they will “happily” use it to retain a player they signed for £80million from Leicester in 2019.

Amorim also revealed the club are close to agreeing a new deal with 22-year-old Ivory Coast winger Amad Diallo, the standout player in a hugely disappointing season in which United have slumped to 14th in the Premier League, on a run of four straight defeats before Sunday’s trip to Liverpool.

“Amad is near,” Amorim said. “Harry Maguire, we are going to trigger our option. I spoke with him this morning and I told him that he has to improve his game on the pitch.

“We need him a lot and also he has to improve as a leader, because we all know the situation that he had here but we need him a lot in this moment so we are going to trigger happily the option for Harry.”

Maguire lost the United captaincy and fell down the pecking order under former United boss Erik ten Hag, appearing to be on his way out of the club to West Ham in the summer of 2023.

But he has found a new lease of life under Amorim, who described the Yorkshireman as “perfect” for his 3-4-3 system.

“He coped very well with his struggles and when you look at our team, we are starving for leaders on the pitch,” Amorim added.

While Maguire and Diallo are set to remain at the club, questions continue to swirl around Marcus Rashford, who last month told journalist Henry Winter he is “ready for a new challenge”.

Rashford was an unused substitute in Monday’s 2-0 home defeat to Newcastle after being left out of the previous four matchday squads entirely. While Amorim said nothing had changed regarding Rashford’s status within the squad this week, he is due to miss Sunday’s match through illness.

“It’s the same situation,” Amorim said. “At the moment he is ill. He is not training. We will see in the future but this is like a normal player, then I make a selection. So, it’s the same. We will see but I think this week he is out.”

Asked if the game worried him, Amorim said: “No, I am just focused on the performance. I am not focused on losing or what could happen. We had some losses, we prepared for this game to win and we know what we are going to face.”

However, he admitted they could not afford the sort of start that saw them fall two goals down to Newcastle inside 20 minutes.

“I think that is clear,” he said. “That is a massive problem for us and it was not just this game. When I arrive we were scoring one goal in the first minutes and then it changed.

“In the bad moment when we suffer a goal it is so hard to connect the players in the game plan. We have to be prepared for a strong start from Liverpool.”