Will England Drop Man Utd’s $103M Star? Gareth Southgate Reacts To Three Lions’ Defeat

England manager Gareth Southgate backed Harry Maguire after the defender received an early red card in their 1-0 loss to Denmark in the Nations League Wednesday.

Maguire has suffered a major dip in form since his court case in Greece earlier this year and after the Denmark match, the pressure has increased further on the Manchester United skipper. The match, which was played at the Wembley Stadium, saw two English players get a red card, the other being Chelsea’s Reece James, who etched an unwanted record. James became the first England player to be sent off on his starting debut. Overall, it was for the very first time in history that England were reduced to nine men.

These incidents in England’s loss were followed with questions directed towards Southgate regarding his team’s growing indiscipline on and off the pitch.

Speaking at the post-match interview, Southgate, who was criticized for not playing Jack Grealish against Denmark, insisted that the side would back Maguire, who has been with England’s first-team since 2017.

"He’s getting a lot of stick thrown his way and he’s big enough to deal with that. He’s got our support and I know his club will be the same. We have total belief in him. He’s been getting all sorts for a while – from some people who should know better. In these periods you learn a lot about yourself. You learn a lot about other people. You learn who’s there for you," said Southgate in the interview.

Explaining how these tough moments will make Maguire a better player, Southgate added, "He’ll be a better player and a stronger man for it. To go down to 10 men is costly for the team. But we back him. He showed on Sunday why we think so much of him with his performance against Belgium," added Southgate about Maguire, who produced two rash tackles in the first half that led to his exit."

Assuring that Maguire, who moved from Leicester City to the Old Trafford side for a hefty price of $103 million in 2019, won’t be dropped, Southgate stated," He’ll want to play football. The best place for him to be is on the pitch."

Under-fire Maguire will next be in action over the weekend when Man Utd take on Newcastle in the Premier League at St. James’ Park Sunday.