Man Utd without injured Maguire for FA Cup final

Manchester United defender Harry Maguire will miss Saturday’s FA Cup final clash with Manchester City, Red Devils boss Erik ten Hag has confirmed.

Maguire has been sidelined since suffering a muscle injury in training earlier in May, with the timeframe for his recovery estimated at around three weeks.

That meant he always faced an uphill battle to make Saturday’s showpiece game at Wembley Stadium, though he was included in England’s preliminary Euro 2024 squad on Tuesday.

At Thursday’s pre-match press conference, Ten Hag confirmed Maguire will not be available but said Victor Lindelof, Mason Mount and Anthony Martial are in contention after being pictured in training.

“Harry Maguire is unavailable but the rest, all the players you mentioned, I think they are available,” the Dutchman said when asked for a team news update.

“We have our final training tomorrow and then we have final decisions to make. But, as I oversee it now, it looks good.”

Asked if Maguire’s chances of featuring at the Euros were in doubt, Ten Hag said: “I don’t think so. It’s just he doesn’t make it [the final]. It didn’t heal as we expected.”

Fellow centre-backs Lisandro Martinez and Raphael Varane are expected to be available, with the latter set to leave United on a free transfer after the final.

Erik has ruled @HarryMaguire93 out of Saturday’s #FACupFinal.

The boss also provided fitness updates on several other Reds #MUFC

— Manchester United (@ManUtd) May 23, 2024

United have lost 19 games and conceded 84 goals in all competitions this season. They last lost 20 in a campaign in 1973-74 (22) and last conceded more than 84 goals in 1963-64 (89).

Ten Hag’s position has been called into question throughout their miserable campaign, with reports on Thursday suggesting Ipswich Town’s Kieran McKenna was a target for the Jim Ratcliffe regime.

Ten Hag, however, says the opportunity to win a second major trophy in as many seasons is his only focus.

“It’s all about trophies,” he said. “We have a huge opportunity to win a trophy.

“In the last 10 years, there were not many trophies in this club but we have an opportunity to win two trophies in two years.”