Manchester United currently have Harry Maguire, Victor Lindelof, Raphael Varane and Lisandro Martinez as senior central defenders with Eric Bailly set for a Marseille switch.
Maguire and Lindelof spent the majority of 2021/22 as United’s main centre-back duo, in part due to Varane’s inability to stay fit.
However, with Martinez now on United’s books and Maguire not looking at his best in the opening two games of the season, that looked set to change.
Martinez and Varane started and impressed on Monday as United earned a huge 2-1 win over Liverpool. As result, it was expected that said duo, barring injuries, would continue on as the Red Devils’ main centre-back pairing.
This is not great news for Maguire, nor England, with a World Cup round the corner and Maguire, whether fans like to admit it or not, hugely important to Gareth Southgate’s side.
Now though, it appears as though Harry Maguire will still earn some minutes this season as, according to the Telegraph, Erik ten Hag has told the aforementioned quartet that they will be operating on a rotation policy this season:
Ten Hag has told his four leading centre halves that he’ll be operating a rotation policy. For Harry Maguire, the captaincy no longer offers the protection it once did & this presents the biggest fight of his #MUFC career https://t.co/dQDRD2tNYG
— James Ducker (@TelegraphDucker) August 24, 2022
