Harry Maguire has revealed that Ruben Amorim told him it was a ‘no-brainer’ to extend his contract with Manchester United and the defender added that he wants the club to ‘fight for titles’ again.
Earlier this month, Amorim confirmed that United had activated a one-year extension to extend the 31-year-old’s contract until June 2026 and demanded the former captain improve both his form and leadership.
“Yes, he (Amorim) is very demanding,” Maguire said. ‘Ruben said to me that when it happened to him that I had an option (to extend my contract), that was not a good idea.
“It has given me the confidence and belief that they want me at the club and to be part of this project. I’m happy to be here. I want this club to fight for titles again and not fight where we are now. We still have a long way to go,” he added.
After a run of four defeats on the trot, United drew with Liverpool at Anfield before beating Arsenal on penalties in the third round of the FA Cup on Sunday.
Maguire praised both Altay Bayindir, who was the hero for United at the Emirates, and Joshua Zirkzee, who scored the winning penalty less than a fortnight after being sarcastically cheered at Old Trafford.
Harry Maguire revealed Ruben Amorim told him it was a ‘no-brainer’ to extend his contract
The England international has enjoyed a resurgence at Man United since Amorim’s arrival
Maguire insisted Andy Madley’s controversial decision to award him a penalty after a Kai Havertz dive was ‘wrong’ and evidence of why VAR is needed.
Asked if it was the worst penalty decision he had ever seen, Maguire said: “Yes, it is a difficult decision. The moment he gave it my first instinct was that it would be fine and that VAR would turn it around and then it clicked in my head that VAR couldn’t intervene.
“So then my mind went a little bit. It was a tough task. He (referee) probably looks back and knows he was wrong. That’s why we have VAR because we want to get the big moments right and it’s a tough job if we don’t have help for it.”
Bayindir saved Martin Odegaard’s penalty to keep the level of play at 1–1 before saving Kai Havertz’s penalty in the shoot-out as United booked their place in the next round.
Speaking about Bayindir, who endured a tough outing against Tottenham last month, Maguire said: ‘When you play for this club the lows are very low and the highs are very high. You must try to preserve yourself.
‘There will be matches where you play poorly and everyone jumps at you. But if you play well, you will become the best player in the world at your position.
“So you have to stay level-headed and level-headed, but he was brilliant. He made some big saves at crucial moments. The penalty: if we had lost 2-1 it would have been very difficult to come back.
“He also made a great save from Declan (Rice) late on, but that’s what he has to do there. I’m sure he would have been disappointed with his game against Spurs. We see him day in and day out in training.
Maguire was left stunned after fouling Arsenal’s Kai Havertz on Sunday
However, United goalkeeper Altay Bayindir came to his rescue and saved the penalty
‘He can produce quality saves. He is a good goalkeeper and an experienced goalkeeper, so I am very happy for him.’
On Zirkzee, Maguire added: ‘I’ve had a time at this club where things are tough and everyone seems to be against you, but one thing is for sure, the United fans will stick with you. They stayed with me in difficult times.
‘In that game against Newcastle he was the unlucky one to be sent off. You could have taken out any of the 11 players at that point and they would all have booed because we all deserved to be booed because we were terrible in the game.” the first 30 minutes.
“It’s a great ending for him to score the winning penalty and the boys had complete confidence that he did that.”
And Maguire hopes their performances at Anfield and the Emirates can be a catalyst for 13th-placed United to show some consistency ahead of their league match against bottom-placed Southampton on Thursday.
‘We have to realize that we are still where we are in the rankings. There are big matches coming up. “We can’t rest because the rankings are embarrassing to look at, so we got a kick out of this,” he said.
“We know we can perform in these big games, but we have to maintain our consistency. Our consistency this year was really bad. We can create moments.
‘Last year we had a moment in the FA Cup final and played really well, but over a long period our consistency has been poor. It’s something we need to determine, starting on Thursday.”
Maguire is hopeful that United’s recent results can give them a boost for the rest of the season
United have not won a Premier League match since beating Manchester City on December 15 and Maguire admitted he and his teammates know it is ‘not nearly good enough’.
“Yes, definitely (should be higher in the table),” he said. ‘We have good, experienced players who have had good careers and we all believe that we should be a lot higher in the rankings. We know that.
‘To be where we are now in the Premier League is not nearly good enough for this team. But it is up to us to change it. We have to run a bit. You don’t really care about the results; you have to take care of the performance.
‘You can get too caught up in looking at results and worrying about the results. If performance is good over a longer period of time, the results will come naturally and we have to keep that up.’
Speaking about his own game, which is flourishing under Amorim, Maguire disagreed that this is the best he has played at United since joining for £80m in 2019, but admitted he feels he has returned is at its best.
‘No. “I think my first few years at United were probably the best part of my career,” he said. ‘I’m now 31 and approaching 32, but I’m getting back to that level. I also think I was at that level last season too, so it’s been 18 months now that I would say I’ve played consistently well for this club again.
‘There is no doubt that I had a difficult year in my third season when Ralf (Rangnick) took over. I wasn’t at my best, I knew that. I knew I had to find something to stay at this club because it has high standards and I feel like I have found something. Mentally and physically I feel good,” Maguire added.