Erik ten Hag insists he is “happy” that Manchester United defender Harry Maguire snubbed an offer to join West Ham.
United accepted West Ham’s £30 million ($38 million) bid for Maguire but the England international decided to pull out of the deal after failing to agree personal terms.
Maguire is likely to remain at Old Trafford once the transfer window closes, leaving him as United’s fourth choice centre-back behind Raphael Varane, Lisandro Martinez and Victor Lindelof.
Ten Hag had already stripped Maguire of the captaincy after the 30-year-old made only eight Premier League starts last season.
But the United manager claimed he had no problem with Maguire staying.
“I am happy Harry Maguire is here. He is going to have to fight for his position as does everyone in the squad,” Ten Hag told reporters on Friday.
“He knows that I expect from him, what I expect from a centre-half. He can do it, he has the abilities to do it so now he has to show it.”
Maguire was an unused substitute for United’s season-opening 1-0 win against Wolves on Monday.
Lindelof came on to replace the injured Martinez in another blow to the former Leicester player, but Ten Hag urged Maguire to prove he deserves a first-team place.
“It is about character, to be convinced to play that role, he has all the abilities to do it,” he said.
“We have four good centre halves and including Luke Shaw we have five, and we need it because we are going to play 50 or 60 games this season.
“All the players are internationals so we have a lot of load to cover.”
Jonny Evans, 35, could still join United on a permanent basis despite Maguire’s presence.
Evans signed on a short-term deal to cover United’s pre-season fixtures in July, but that contract has now expired.
Ten Hag has revealed talks are ongoing with the former United centre-back, who watched the Wolves game from the director’s box at Old Trafford.
“In this moment, he is not (under contract) but we are talking,” Ten Hag said of Evans, who left Old Trafford for West Brom in 2015.
“We will see. We are in talks and when we have news we will bring it.”
United this week issued a club statement regarding the internal investigation into Mason Greenwood, who has been suspended by his team since January 2022 over allegations relating to a young woman after images and videos were posted online.
Greenwood was facing charges including attempted rape and assault until the Crown Prosecution Service announced six months ago that the case had been discontinued.
Following reports that United are preparing to bring Greenwood back into the first-team set-up, some fans protested against his potential return at Old Trafford on Monday.
However, Ten Hag was adamant the issue would not affect him or his team.
“We focus on the way of playing, we focus on the team performance. It is about the players who are available so we focus on Tottenham,” he said.
