Former Real Madrid star aims brutal dig at Manchester United player

Harry Maguire was included in Rafael van de Vaart's bizarre comments after Germany were knocked out of the World Cup.

Maguire has been fantastic for England but has somehow received criticism from the former Spurs man.

For Manchester United, the England centre-back has not been in the best of form but he, so far, is yet to let his Three Lions teammates down.

Germany were knocked out of the group stages for a second World Cup running as Japan beat Spain 2-1 and progressed as group winners.

Van der Vaart told NOS: "Germany have a problem in defence.

"[Borussia Dortmund’s] Niklas Sule is not world-class. He is the German Harry Maguire."

What did German stars make of their exit?

Chelsea’s Kai Havertz shared his frustrations at the Germans' early exit: "When you go out twice in the first round and once in the round of 16, it’s extremely bitter.

"We have to be honest and say that for four years, everything hasn’t been going well. Now we’ve been knocked out twice in the group stage. I don’t think we’re a tournament team anymore."

Germany boss Hansi Flick said he has no plans to step down from the role: "From my side, there is no reason not to continue.

"I enjoy it, we have good players coming through. We have players who play with top clubs and we do have the quality but I believe that for the future of German football, we need to do things differently in training.

"It will be very important to focus on the new generation of footballers. There are good players for the future, but for the next ten years, it is very important that we make the right steps now."