Man Utd confirm Harry Maguire FA Cup final injury blow as Erik ten Hag eyes Man City win

Manchester United defender Harry Maguire will miss Saturday’s FA Cup final after failing in his race to be fit following a muscle injury. Maguire was absent for the final weeks of the Premier League campaign but was hoping to be fit to feature in the showpiece event against rivals Manchester City.

United were initially confident that Maguire would win his battle to play in the FA Cup final. However, manager Erik ten Hag confirmed on Thursday that the 30-year-old did not recover “as expected”.

The Red Devils will train for the final time on Friday before travelling to London. “Harry Maguire is unavailable,” said Ten Hag in his pre-match press conference. “He didn’t heal as expected.

“Tomorrow is final training and then we make final decisions, but the way I see it now it looks good.”

Maguire’s absence following the injury he suffered in a 1-1 draw with Burnley on April 27 raises questions over his availability for the England squad for Euro 2024. He was named as part of a bumper 33-man provisional squad for the tournament.

England manager Gareth Southgate is already being forced to contend with a number of injuries and absences ahead of warm-up friendlies against Bosnia and Iceland. United and City stars could be given an extended break after their FA Cup final, while Jude Bellingham is set to feature in the Champions League final for Real Madrid on June 1.

Southgate has also revealed that Maguire’s United team-mate Luke Shaw is “up against it” in his race to be fit for Euro 2024 despite being named in the provisional squad. Shaw has not played since February due to a hamstring problem.

Fellow Red Devils star Marcus Rashford was left out entirely following a below-par campaign for the forward.

Meanwhile, under-fire United boss Ten Hag insists he is not thinking about his future ahead of the FA Cup final. Some reports claim that the Dutchman could be dismissed if United lose, having failed to earn European qualification during a poor season.

Ten Hag said on his future: “I have nothing to say. I’m just focusing on the job I have to do and that is first win the game on Saturday and then keep going with the project.

“I came here to win trophies and Saturday is the next opportunity. After every season you review it and we will see where we are in the project.

“There are things we have to change, we spoke lately about it, but there are some very good things, players coming up, values coming up and on Saturday we have a big opportunity to win the next trophy.”