Former Premier League striker Darren Bent has slammed Harry Maguire for choosing to stay at Manchester United instead of joining West Ham United this summer.
West Ham were very keen to bring Harry Maguire to the London Stadium. However, according to BBC Sport, the Hammers’ deal to sign him is now off.
For Bent, the 30-year-old staying at United to be their fourth-choice centre-back shows a “real lack of ambition”. Speaking about the collapse of his transfer on talkSPORT, the ex-England international said: “I thought he would’ve gone to West Ham and if he’s playing week in, week out and playing well for West Ham, which I believe he would do, Gareth [Southgate] would have no problems picking him.
“And I would sit here and go, ‘Do you know what? I’d still pick him because he’s playing games.’ But the fact he’s shown real lack of ambition… I get it, he’s at Manchester United, it’s hard to leave.
“It’s different having two World Cup winners ahead of you. You go, ‘Fair enough.’ [Victor] Lindelof to a certain extent, fair enough, but when you start seeing people who play left-back like Luke Shaw playing ahead of you in your position and you’re just sitting there on the bench, at some stage you’ve got [to have] self-pride.”
Harry Maguire could regret not joining West Ham
With Raphael Varane, Lisandro Martinez and Lindelof all ahead of him in the pecking order, Maguire is unlikely to get much game time at Old Trafford.
Really, it is not something the £200,000-a-week (Salary Sport) England star can afford with Euro 2024 taking place in Germany next year.
If Maguire does not play in the current campaign, then he is at real risk of losing his spot in the Three Lions’ squad.
New options are emerging for Southgate, including Chelsea youngster Levi Colwill, who looks set to be a regular under Mauricio Pochettino.
The 20-year-old, who has already trained with the England senior side before, started in his side’s 1-1 draw with Liverpool at Stamford Bridge last weekend.
You can easily see Southgate calling him up, and it may be at Maguire’s expense if the former Leicester City man cannot win his spot back at United.
At this moment in time, turning down the chance to join David Moyes’ side looks like a bad move.
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