Maguire, rumored to be moving to Chelsea, was benched for last Monday’s 2-1 victory against Liverpool.

Varane paired Lisandro Martinez in the center of the defense instead.

Ten Hag praised France defender Varane, saying, “His profile, his height or what he had earned in the past indicates he can definitely contribute to this squad.”

“Competition is good for the squad, and we need it. We have to cover a lot of games, and we can do it in a few different ways depending on the situation.”

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“We have choices, and [with] Varane his height is huge,” the Dutch coach said.

Maguire started Manchester United’s first two matches of the year, a 2-1 loss to Brighton at home and a 4-0 loss at Brentford, respectively.

During a preseason friendly in Australia against Crystal Palace, the 29-year-old heard some jeers in response to his bad performance from the previous season.

Maguire has already been named Ten Hag’s captain for this year, but Ten Hag was clear that this does not guarantee him starts.

In particular, not when you have Varane in your team, he said, “I think it doesn’t imply when you are captain that you are established to play constantly.”