As Matthijs de Ligt and Lisandro Martinez flounder, the man stripped of the Man United captaincy and seemingly written off by Erik ten Hag should be the first name on the team sheet: NATHAN SALT on Harry Maguire's 'in the trenches' rescue act Man United drew 3-3 with Porto in the Europa League on Thursday night Harry Maguire came off the bench to head home an injury time equaliser LISTEN NOW: It's All Kicking Off! , available wherever you get your podcasts. New episodes every Monday and Thursday By Nathan Salt Published: 06:38, 4 October 2024 | Updated: 06:41, 4 October 2024 e-mail View comments One thing Harry Maguire has never done is give up on himself, even when others looked to have made their mind up on him. How easy it would have been for the 31-year-old to have had a crisis of confidence.
Booed by his own fans; mocked routinely; witnessing two new centre-backs sign to go ahead of him this summer; missing out on Euro 2024 and out of the England squad altogether this week; ruthlessly stripped of the captain’s armband after years as United’s de-facto leader; constantly finding himself linked with a transfer out the door. Instead he’s shown exactly what it takes to survive at one of the world’s biggest clubs - and has provided a moment that may well ensure the survival of his manager, too. ‘Thanks for the gift,’ Maguire posted on his Instagram story by way of a message to assist-maker Christian Eriksen .
His manager may well need to pen a thank you of his own .
