Harry Maguire Vows Manchester United ‘Can’t Stop Here’ as He Mentors Heaven and Yoro

Harry Maguire is entering his eighth season at Manchester United, and in one of his first interviews of the campaign, he sounded like a player still hungry rather than one coasting toward the finish line. Speaking to Sky Sports after spending several days with the squad at their training camp in Dublin, Maguire reflected on the closeness of the current group, the mentoring role he has taken on with the club’s young defenders, and why he believes last season’s improvement was only a starting point.

“To play for this club for one would have been a dream come true when I was a young kid, so to be here going into my eighth season, it’s something I’m really proud of,” Maguire said. “It’s not about me, but at this stage of my career, I want to be part of a successful team and a team that wins. That’s got to be the aim for all the boys this season, we want to be competitive right until the end of the season in every competition.”

“We Can’t Stop Here”

Maguire has lived through almost every version of Manchester United over his time at the club, from the short-lived highs under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer to the polarizing Erik ten Hag years and the turbulence of Ruben Amorim’s spell in charge. He has remained a fixture regardless, and he pointed to the bond within the current squad as something he has not felt in quite the same way before.

“During my time at the club, we’ve had some close groups, no doubt this is one of the closest,” Maguire said. “Spending time together and winning football matches brings teams closer. Losing that Europa League final, finishing 15th to finishing third and putting the club back in the Champions League, it was a good season but we can’t stop here.”

Asked whether the team can push for the title this season, Maguire did not hedge. “We want to improve on last season,” he said. “Everyone wants to win the Premier League, of course that is going to be our aim, that’s what this club demands. We have the belief we can be really competitive and we can beat anyone on our day. It’s going to be an exciting season.”

Carrick’s Squad Still Wants More

United head into the season having already added Andrey Santos in a £50m move from Chelsea and Youri Tielemans in a £35m deal from Aston Villa, but gaps remain. The club are short at left-back and thin in midfield with Mason Mount and Manuel Ugarte both sidelined through injury, and head coach Michael Carrick has been open about wanting the window to bring more.

Carricks own position looks considerably more secure than it did in January, when he first stepped in following Amorims exit. Since taking permanent charge he has overseen 11 wins from 16 matches, form that persuaded the club to hand him fresh terms running to 2028 with the option of a further year, giving him more time to shape the squad than any of Uniteds previous three permanent appointments were afforded.

“We want more, we need more,” Carrick said of United’s remaining transfer business, adding that there are “one or two areas where we’d like to improve” before the window shuts on September 1.

Maguire echoed that sentiment from a player’s perspective. “I’m at an age now where they can bring in as many players as they want, bring in all the best players… I want to win all the trophies and be greedy about it, but it’s up to the club,” he said. “I’m sure they’re working hard out there to try and bring in the right players, the more the merrier. The stronger the squad, the more opportunity we have of winning these trophies and that’s what it’s all about when you play for this club.”

From Record Signing to Mentor

Maguire’s role at Old Trafford has changed shape in the years after he arrived from Leicester City in 2019 for £80m, a fee that made him the second most expensive signing in English top-flight history at the time. Now 33 and still a key part of Carrick’s defense, he has taken on a second job alongside his own performances: helping shape the players who will eventually replace him.

Ayden Heaven and Leny Yoro have both shown considerable promise over the past 18 months, and 18-year-old Dan Armer, nicknamed “mini Maguire” by fans on social media, is coming up behind them. Maguire smiled at the mention of the nickname and spoke about the responsibility of guiding all three.

“I think that comes quite naturally to me, I want them to have amazing careers,” Maguire said. “Hopefully in five or six years’ time, Leny, Ayden and Dan are fighting it out and playing together in this team, that’s all I want. They have the attributes and qualities to do that.”

He continued: “They’re young, but they’re learning the game under the biggest scrutiny and analysis anyone can imagine and they’re only going to get stronger. Hopefully one day they’re the main two centre-half partnership at this club and they’re winning the biggest trophies. Hopefully they’re the strongest partnership in world football, that’s what they’ve got to aim to do.”

A Pre-Season With Warning Signs

United closed their pre-season schedule with a 4-2 defeat to AC Milan in Poland, a result that offered a reminder of the work still ahead even as the overall trajectory under Carrick remains positive. Bryan Mbeumo and Amad Diallo have both looked sharp in the warm-up games, with Amad appearing full of confidence after an impressive World Cup with Ivory Coast over the summer, and Joshua Zirkzee has looked like a different player to the one supporters saw in his first two seasons at the club, most of all in a standout display against Leeds at a sold-out Croke Park in Dublin.

Maguire himself had given United an early lead in Wroclaw, heading in from a Bruno Fernandes corner inside the opening two minutes, before Samuel Chukwueze equalised for Milan just before half-time. Patrick Dorgu restored Uniteds advantage early in the second half, but Milan responded with two goals in three minutes to complete the turnaround and hand Amorim victory over his old club in his first meeting against United since leaving Old Trafford.

The Milan defeat also exposed why left-back remains a priority before the window shuts. United have pushed their gameplan higher up the pitch under Carrick compared to the compact, deep-defending approach that carried them through his first six months in interim charge, and the fourth Milan goal came from a single ball played over a high defensive line. With Luke Shaw needing to be rotated across an increased fixture list that includes European competition, the club are working against the clock to get a left-back deal done.

The Rashford Question

No storyline hangs over the squad quite like Marcus Rashford’s return from loan spells at Aston Villa and Barcelona. Rashford has been upbeat and eager about being back, and Carrick has said Rashford is his player and that he is looking forward to working with him this season. Even so, doubt remains over whether the forward stays beyond deadline day, with his next move likely to hinge on the level of interest he generates and what he personally believes is right for his next challenge. For now, he is expected to remain part of Carrick’s squad heading into the opening weeks of the season.

Rashfords two loan spells offered plenty of evidence for why United are in no rush to let him go for anything less than the right price. Across his time at Aston Villa and Barcelona he contributed 14 goals and 14 assists in 49 appearances, form that restored much of the confidence that had drained away during his final months under Amorim. Barcelona held a purchase option worth around 30 million euros but let it expire, a call reportedly shaped more by the Spanish clubs financial constraints than by any doubt over his performances.

A Long Road, Still Not Finished

Maguire signed a new one-year contract at Old Trafford earlier this year, extending a stay that has stretched across four permanent head coaches and covered everything from a Europa League final defeat to a fifteenth-place Premier League finish and, last season, a return to the Champions League via a third-place finish. Through all of it, he has kept his place in the squad and, by his own account, found something in this group that previous versions of the team did not quite have.

With days to go before the new season, the questions around Manchester United are familiar ones: whether the additions of Santos and Tielemans are enough, whether Carrick can push the club further after a promising first half-season in charge, and whether a squad captain heading into his eighth year at the club still has more to give. Maguire’s answer, at least for now, is that the work under Carrick has produced something worth protecting rather than something to be satisfied with.