England boss Gareth Southgate has reiterated that defender Harry Maguire has what it takes to play "at the highest level" despite the Manchester United man's poor club form.
Maguire was an unused substitute for the Three Lions in Saturday's 2-1 friendly win over Switzerland at Wembley, but could return to the team against Ivory Coast on Tuesday.
Conor Coady, Ben White, and debutant Marc Guehi started as England played a back three in their comeback win over Switzerland, with Maguire earning criticism in recent weeks for his role in the Red Devils' underwhelming campaign.
Despite acknowledging that Maguire is going through a "difficult moment" with his club, Southgate reasserted his belief in the 29-year-old's quality.
With Maguire's club team-mates Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho left out of the Three Lions party for the March internationals, Southgate also highlighted the increased depth England possess in the forward areas.
"In terms of selection, it's always a difficult conundrum, because we've got players who we know have performed well in an England shirt," Southgate said. "[But] there's got to be some level of scrutiny on how people are playing for their clubs.
"Everybody has a view on who we should or shouldn't be picking, in the end we need the best players possible, playing at their best level, to have a chance of winning.
"He [Maguire] has got us to a World Cup semi-final and a European Championship final, so there's no doubt that he's capable of playing at the very highest level.
"The club [United] are in a difficult moment, and there could be any number of reasons for that.
"That doesn't mean that players can be poor for a couple of years and still find their way in, [but] it also depends on competition for positions, we've left some forward players out who haven't been in good form, but there are experienced replacements for those players."
Meanwhile, Southgate would not reveal whether captain Harry Kane would start against Ivory Coast, praising the Tottenham star's attitude after he drew level with Bobby Charlton's tally of 49 goals for the Three Lions.
Kane is now joint-second in England's all-time goalscoring charts, just four goals shy of Wayne Rooney's record haul of 53 goals, but Southgate hinted that he could choose to look at other options against The Elephants.
"If he had his way he'd play 90 minutes of every fixture," the England boss added. "Which is a brilliant quality to have, because if you're the captain, and want to be at every camp, playing every minute of every game, that sets the tone for everything else.
"The fact is, we've got a good squad, we want to keep people involved and give people opportunities, we need to see certain things across the week, to see how people can play at this level.
"I'll let Ivory Coast find out [whether Kane will start] when we put the team sheet out!"
Hurtig the hero after late goal sends Arsenal into Champions League quarters
Lina Hurtig's 89th minute winner ensured Arsenal progressed to the quarter-finals of the Women's Champions League after edging Juventus 1-0 on Thursday.
After being frustrated for large parts of the encounter, Hurtig bundled home from close range after Martina Lenzini's poor clearance to book the Gunners' place in the last eight.
Despite Arsenal dominating the early exchanges, it was Juventus who had the first sight of goal, though Eva Schatzer's effort was easy for Daphne van Domselaar to gather.
In a first half that saw just two shots on target, both coming from the visitors, Renee Slegers' substitutes proved to be the difference for Arsenal.
Slegers introduced Beth Mead, Stina Blackstenius and Hurtig late on, with the latter somehow putting Kim Little's cross over the bar from five yards out.
However, the Swede would atone for her earlier error, combining with fellow substitute Blackstenius to net against her former club and send them out of the competition with two group games remaining.
Meanwhile, in Group D, Barcelona edged closer to the quarter-finals of the competition with a convincing 4-1 victory over St. Polten at the Generali Arena.
The reigning champions are still three points behind Manchester City following their 2-1 win over Hammarby, and know a win against the Swedes next month will see them progress.
Kika Nazareth opened the scoring in the 20th minute after capitalising on a mistake by Kamila Dubcova, notching her second nine minutes later from close range.
Barca found themselves three goals up at the break when Vicky Lopez netted her first goal in the competition to put the result beyond doubt.
There was also a landmark moment for Alexia Putellas, who netted her 200th goal for the club with a well-taken effort into the far corner.
Valentina Madl took some of the shine off an otherwise impressive display from the visitors, who have now taken their tally to 20 goals from their four matches in the competition.
Guardiola agrees two-year contract extension with Man City
Pep Guardiola will be Manchester City manager for at least two more seasons after 2024-25, after he signed a two-year contract extension on Thursday.
The 53-year-old was coming to the end of his City deal, which was due to expire at the end of the current campaign, but he has opted to remain at the Etihad Stadium.
The deal itself will take Guardiola's tenure at the club to over a decade, making him City's longest-serving manager since Les McDowall in 1963.
There had been suggestions that he may leave at the end of the season following the announcement that director of football Txiki Begiristain was on his way out.
Guardiola was strongly linked with the England job after Gareth Southgate resigned in the wake of their Euro 2024 final defeat, but the Football Association appointed Thomas Tuchel last month.
“Manchester City means so much to me," Guardiola said. “This is my ninth season here; we have experienced so many amazing times together. I have a really special feeling for this football club.
“That is why I am so happy to be staying for another two more seasons.
“Thank you to everyone for continuing to trust and support me – The Owner, The Chairman Khaldoon, Ferran, Txiki, the players and, of course, the fans… everyone connected to Manchester City. It has always been an honour, a pleasure and a privilege to be here.
“I have said this many times before, but I have everything a manager could ever wish for, and I appreciate that so much.
“Hopefully, now we can add more trophies to the ones we have already won. That will be my focus.”
Having been appointed in 2016, Guardiola is by some distance Manchester City's most successful manager of all time, having won 18 major trophies during his time at the club.
That list includes their first-ever Champions League triumph in 2023 and six Premier League titles, including an unprecedented four on the spin.
He also boasts a 72.04% win percentage across all competitions, which is unsurprisingly the highest of any full-time City manager in history.
Shaw at the double as Man City progress in Champions League
Khadija Shaw scored twice as Manchester City beat Hammarby 2-1 to seal their place in the Women's Champions League quarter-finals.
Gareth Taylor's team entered Thursday's game with a perfect record in Group D, and their fourth win in as many European matches ensured they finished in the top two.
Shaw—the leading scorer in the Women's Super League this season with eight goals—put them ahead in the 31st minute, driving into the area after taking in Yui Hasegawa's pass before seeing her shot deflect into the top corner.
Shaw was booked for celebrating in front of the home fans despite appearing to have objects thrown at her from the stands, and Hammarby should have levelled when Julia Blakstad fired wide 10 minutes later.
The hosts did draw level three minutes into the second half as Ellen Wangerheim tapped home while City's Laura Blindkilde Brown was down appealing for a free-kick.
That parity was short-lived, though, as Shaw blasted into the top corner from 25 yards out, taking her overall tally for this season to 12 goals in all competitions.
In Group C, meanwhile, Bayern Munich lost their perfect record as they played out a 1-1 draw with Valerenga, boosting Arsenal's hopes of topping the pile.
Jovana Damnjanovic came off the bench to put Bayern ahead 15 minutes from time in Norway, but Elise Thorsnes headed home following an 88th-minute corner to snatch a point for the hosts.
Arsenal could now move within a point of Bayern when they face Juventus in Group C's other match later on Thursday.
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