Harry Maguire was born to play for Manchester United, says Peter Schmeichel

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Harry Maguire received the news he had been waiting for this week when he was named in the England squad for the World Cup.

Months ago this would have been a foregone conclusion, but a difficult run of form and a recent injury had seen question marks rise over his place.

At the heart of Maguire’s struggles has been the way he has lost his place at Manchester United, even before his injury.

Lisandro Martinez and Raphael Varane are Erik ten Hag’s first choice partnership, and with the Frenchman out injured, Victor Lindelof has been preferred.

Fresh off his call-up for England, Maguire, 29, was back in United’s line-up last night as the team rotated against Aston Villa and gave Lisandro Martinez a well deserved rest.

‘Harry Maguire was born to play for Manchester United’

There were questions over Harry Maguire’s captaincy heading into the season, and Bruno Fernandes has worn the armband frequently with the defender sitting on the sidelines.

Former United star Peter Schmeichel is a fan of the defender and believes he is a valuable part of the squad.

Schmeichel told Sky Sports’ pre-game coverage: “This guy, he’s born to play for Manchester United.

“He reminds me a little bit of (Steve) Bruce. Not the same kind of player, but the same kind of personality, you need those kind of players in the squad, he’s a level headed guy. I think that thing that happened to him in Greece kicked him a bit.”

Maguire has appeared to struggle with confidence at times, as well as the burden of the captaincy and the weight of expectation at United.

This has actually led to fans to wonder the very opposite of what Schmeichel is suggesting, whether Maguire is actually cut out to play for the club, let alone lead it.

Maguire has a real challenge on his hands at United now in terms of competition, and he is going to have to work harder than ever to re-establish himself as a regular.

A strong World Cup will help his cause, and may lead to rediscovering his confidence. But if he struggles and the English press and supporters turn on him, he will be up against an even tougher challenge.