Maguire deserves England recall, says Amorim

Manchester United centre back Harry Maguire deserves to be recalled to the England squad and his leadership qualities can be an asset to the national team, the Premier League club's head coach Ruben Amorim said.

The 31-year-old Maguire, capped 64 times, was among the high-profile names that missed out on a call-up to the 2024 European Championship in Germany, where England finished as runners-up after losing to Spain 2-1 in the final in July.

Maguire, who was stripped of the club captaincy by former manager Erik ten Hag in 2023, has produced much-improved performances for United this season and scored winners against Leicester City in the FA Cup fourth round and Ipswich Town in the Premier League last month.

Former Chelsea and Bayern Munich boss Thomas Tuchel, who replaced Gareth Southgate in October after the Englishman left his role following their Euro final loss, is set to name his first England squad this month for the World Cup European qualifiers against Albania and Latvia.

"If it's enough is with the national coach. I would be really happy for him, I think he deserves (it)," Amorim told reporters when asked if he thinks Maguire's form is good enough to be considered by England.

"He is a great guy, I think he needs to still improve because when you are a player you can improve every time and improve a lot of things," added Amorim, who was speaking ahead of Sunday's FA Cup fifth round against Fulham at Old Trafford.

"But I think his performances in the moment are quite good and you feel he is more a leader now that can help a national team, so I hope he is in the national team in the next games."