Mark Lawrenson reckons that Harry Maguire could enjoy a new lease of life in Ruben Amorim's favoured 3-4-3 formation.
Amorim, 39, started his Manchester United tenure off with a 1-1 draw against Ipswich Town at the weekend ahead of big matches against Bodo/Glimt in the Europa League and Everton in the Premier League.
The highly-rated Portuguese coach arrives at Old Trafford with an impressive body of work from his time at Sporting Lisbon. Amorim deployed a back three for most of his Sporting tenure - and Lawrenson believes that could open the door for Maguire, even though United signed two other centre-backs in Matthijs de Ligt and Leny Yoro during the summer transfer window.
"If Harry Maguire knocked on Ruben Amorim’s door, he’ll have a look at him and see what he’s got," the Liverpool icon told Paddy Power.
"With every player – and there’s lots of them – he has to look at each one, but in the meantime, he must get results.
"If Harry Maguire plays as the middle of Amorim’s back three, he’ll be comfortable. It’s just that he doesn’t have that half a yard of pace. Ruben Amorim might think he can put him in the middle with two guys either side who have legs and see how they go."
Unfortunately for Maguire, his stock has fallen at Manchester United in recent years. He was even stripped of the club captaincy by Erik ten Hag back in the summer of 2023 after losing his place in the Dutchman's team.
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It was reported at the time that Maguire had the opportunity to leave Old Trafford with West Ham making a bid for his services. Maguire stayed and went on to win back his place in the team under Ten Hag, but it emerged last month prior to the Dutchman's departure that he had planned to sell the defender in January.
Maguire started United's opening game of the season and has made five Premier League appearances so far this term, although he did not feature in Ten Hag's final match at the helm or during the interim reign of Ruud van Nistelrooy.
The England centre-half is facing even more competition for places this year with De Ligt and Yoro joining Lisandro Martinez, Victor Lindelof and Jonny Evans in vying for a starting role.
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