Harry Maguire has been talking up fellow centre-back Axel Tuanzebe despite his lack of game time this season.
Tuanzebe has not started a Premier League game and has just 49 minutes to his name in the competition so far.
He does have starts in the FA Cup, Carabao Cup and Champions League to his name, four in total, including a very impressive away performance against PSG.
Harry Maguire says Tuanzebe is already marking himself out as a dressing room leader and backs him to eventually prove himself.
He told the club’s official website: “We have a lot of leaders in the dressing room, a lot of senior pros. And you don’t have to be a senior pro to be a leader.
“Axel is a leader, in the ways that he works and speaks in the dressing room. And he’s only a young boy, he’s still learning his trade – I’m sure he’ll go on to have an unbelievable career.”
The talent is there
Tuanzebe has been talked about as a prospect since what seems like forever. He is now 23-years-old, and needs more regular game time than he is getting.
With a lack of regular football, it becomes harder to perform well when you are thrown in. So far Tuanzebe has coped pretty well with this. His performance away to PSG after several months out was fantastic, and showed what he is capable of.
His problem at present is that he is United’s fourth choice centre-back. A potential chance against Liverpool at the weekend did not come, with Solskjaer preferring Victor Lindelof, even though Tuanzebe had started the previous round.
There should be chances as the season goes along. It would be nice to see United trust him in the Europa League next month when the knockout stages begin.
Solskjaer gave Tuanzebe the captain’s armband for a cup tie against Rochdale a season ago, which shows he shares Maguire’s view about his leadership qualities.
He recently won praise from Gary Neville for a performance at right-back against Everton in a Carabao Cup win against Everton. This might be where he gets his chances. If it is, he showed he won’t let United down.
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