Harry Maguire has revealed that Rubén Amorim told him it was “obvious” to renew 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 requested a one-year extension to extend the 31-year-old's contract until June 2026 and demanded that the former captain improve both his form and leadership.
“Yes, he (Amorim) is very demanding,” Maguire said. 'Rubén told me that when he realized he had an option (to extend my contract), it was a no-brainer.
“It has given me confidence and conviction that they want me in the club and as part of this project. I am happy to be here. I want this club to fight for titles again and not to fight for the position we occupy in the table in this moment. We have a long way to go,' he added.
After a run of four consecutive defeats, United drew against Liverpool at Anfield before beating Arsenal on penalties in the FA Cup third round on Sunday.
Maguire praised both Altay Bayindir, who was United's hero at the Emirates, and Joshua Zirkzee, who scored the winning penalty, less than two weeks after he was sarcastically cheered at Old Trafford.
Harry Maguire revealed that Rubén Amorim told him it was 'obvious' to extend his contract
The English international has re-emerged at Man United since Amorim's arrival
Maguire insisted Andy Madley's controversial decision to award a penalty after a Kai Havertz dive was “wrong” and proof of why VAR is needed.
Asked if it was the worst penalty decision he had ever seen, Maguire said: “Yes, it's difficult.” The moment he gave it, my initial instinct was that everything would be fine and VAR would turn it around for me and then it occurred to me that VAR couldn't intervene.
'So that's when my head turned a little bit. It was difficult. He (the referee) probably looks back and knows he made a mistake. “That's why we have VAR, because we need the big moments to be correct and it's a difficult task if we don't have help for them.”
Bayindir saved Martin Odegaard's penalty to keep the draw at 1-1 before saving Kai Havertz's penalty in the shootout as United booked their place in the next round.
On Bayindir, who had 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 have to try to keep up.
“There will be games where you play poorly and everyone will jump on you.” But in those games, when you play well, you become the best player in the world in your position.
“So you have to stay firm and level-headed, but he was brilliant. Made great saves in some crucial moments. The penalty: if we had been losing 2-1, it would have been very difficult to come back.
“He also made a great save from Declan (Rice) at the end, but that's what he's there for. I'm sure he would have been disappointed with his game against Spurs. We see it day after day in training.
Maguire was left stunned when he was deemed to have fouled Arsenal's Kai Havertz on Sunday.
However, United goalkeeper Altay Bayindir came to his aid and saved the penalty.
“He can produce quality stops.” “He's a good goalkeeper and an experienced goalkeeper, so I'm very happy for him.”
On Zirkzee, Maguire added: “I've had a time at this club where things are difficult and everyone seems to be against you, but one thing for sure is that the United fans support you.” When times were tough, they stayed with me.
“That game against Newcastle, he was the unlucky one to be substituted – you could have substituted any of the 11 players at that time and they would all have been booed, because we all deserved to be booed because we were terrible in the first 30 minutes.
“It's a great finish for him to score the winning penalty and the boys had full faith in him.”
And Maguire hopes his performances at Anfield and the Emirates can be a catalyst for 13th-placed United to start showing some consistency ahead of their league match against bottom club Southampton on Thursday.
“We have to realize that we are still where we are in the standings. We have big games ahead of us. We can't rest because the standings are embarrassing, so let's start with this,” he said.
“We know we can perform in these important games, but we have to maintain our consistency.” Our consistency this year has been really poor. We can produce moments.
“We had a moment in the FA Cup final last year and played very well, but for a long period our consistency has been bad. It's something we have to nail down from Thursday.”
Maguire is hopeful that United's recent results can help them push forward for the rest of the season.
United have not won a Premier League game since beating Manchester City on December 15 and Maguire admitted he and his team-mates know they are “not good enough.”
“Yes, definitely (it should be higher on the chart),” he said. “We have good experienced players who have had good careers and we all believe we should be much higher up the table. We know it.
“Sitting where we are in the Premier League is not good enough for this team. But it's up to us to change it. We have to go out and run a bit. You don't really worry about the results, you have to look after the performances.
'You can get too tired looking at the results and worrying about the results. “If performance is high over a period of time, results will come and that's what we have to maintain.”
On his own game, which is thriving under Amorim, Maguire disagreed that it is the best he has played at United since joining in 2019 for £80m, but admitted he feels he is getting back to his best.
'No. “I think my first few years at United were probably the best part of my career,” he said. 'I'm 31 now and I'm turning 32, but I'm getting back to that level. I also think I was at that level last season, So it's been 18 months where I would say I've been playing consistently well again for this club.
“There is no doubt that I had a difficult year in my third season when Ralf (Rangnick) took over. I was not at my best, I knew it, I knew I needed to find something to stay at this club because it demands high standards and I feel that I've found something. Mentally and physically I feel good,” Maguire added.