- Harry Maguire's Man United contract expires at the end of this season
- The former United captain has become a regular against Rubén Amorim
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Manchester United will activate the one-year option on Harry Maguire's contract at Old Trafford, with manager Ruben Amorim calling on the former club captain to step forward in a team “hungry” for leadership.
Amorim, who also revealed that Amad Diallo is close to agreeing a new deal, spoke to Maguire in Carrington on Friday morning and confirmed he will extend the £190,000-a-week contract he signed after moving from Leicester City in 2019 for £ 80 million. .
Both Maguire and Diallo would become free agents in the summer if they do not sign new terms.
“Amad is close, Harry Maguire is going to activate our option,” said Amorim, who made reference to Maguire being stripped of the captaincy by former United manager Erik ten Hag.
“I spoke to him this morning and told him that he had to improve his game on the field. We need him a lot and he also has to improve as a leader. We all know the situation he had here but we are going to happily activate the option.
“There are moments in a player's career that are different and I think he overcame his difficulties very well. When you look at our team, we are hungry for leaders on the field.
Rubén Amorim has confirmed that Manchester United will extend Harry Maguire's contract for another year
Amorim believes Maguire is the 'leader' United need after a terrible run in the Premier League
Maguire stripped of captaincy in 2023 by former boss Erik ten Hag by Bruno Fernandes
“He is a leader, he has to improve that part and he has to improve our game and we are happy to continue with him.”
“If you want to be a top-level team, you have to be a leader and we have that in the locker room, but they have to take a step forward.” We also have a lot of young children and this time is really difficult. “We can look at the table, but you are still Manchester United.”
United come into the match after four consecutive defeats in all competitions and without having won at Anfield in nine years.
“We know it's going to be a difficult moment, a really different context for both teams,” he added. “They had that solid foundation for many years, but this week we worked to win the game.
'I'm just focused on acting. I haven't focused on losing or what might happen. We had some losses and we prepared this game to win. We know what we are going to face and we have to be prepared for a good start for Liverpool.
'My goal is to prepare the team so as not to suffer that difficult moment like the one you saw in the first 15 minutes against Newcastle. I want to improve that.
“In football, anything can happen in a match. If we talk about the season, the best almost always win. At the moment they are better than us but we can win any game. We have to focus not on context but on performance. We have to improve the simple things.”
Maguire was named captain six months after joining the club in 2020, but was ruthlessly stripped of his role by former boss Ten Hag and replaced by Bruno Fernandes ahead of the 2023-24 campaign.
The centre-back has become a regular starter for Amorim after struggling in the minutes before his arrival.
Maguire even received the captain's armband once again in United's 4-0 thrashing of Everton in early December.