"Cristiano Ronaldo is a magnificent player" - Harry Maguire defends Manchester United teammate amid criticism

Harry Maguire has stuck up for his Manchester United teammate Cristiano Ronaldo amid rumours of an Old Trafford exit for the 37-year-old.

The club captain has played with Ronaldo for a season and believes that he is a vital part United's squad going forward.

Last month the striker declared his wish to leave the club, but with a lack of suitors it looks ever-more-likely that he remains at the Theatre of Dreams this coming season.

Whilst there has been reports over the last year questioning the relationship between Maguire and the star forward, since the former is captaining the five-times Champions League winner, Maguire has publicly laid a clear mark of respect and admiration for the Portuguese legend.

"Goals," Maguire initially answered when asked by Sky Sports what Ronaldo brings to the team. "Listen, Cristiano is a magnificent player and a magnificent character to have around," he elaborated.

There has been a media attack on the forward since news broke of him wanting to leave the club.

It has been the talking point of each and every Ten Hag press conference so far. He was also attacked for leaving early against Rayo Vallecano following his half-time substitution.

Ten Hag reacted to these reports in his latest pre-match press conference, claiming that the focus being on Ronaldo "is not right" since there were other players who also left.

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Maguire is not a stranger to scrutiny in the public eye and has addressed the criticism of United's no.7.

"I know what it's like to have a lot of media speculation around myself, but he takes the majority of it. Everything he does is scrutinised to a degree," Maguire explained.

"I think that's what you get when you play for this club, the size of the club.

"On the other hand, when things are good you get a lot of praise. That's football, that's the sport that we play."

However, the club captain went onto explain that whilst players like himself and Cristiano must deal with a certain level of criticism, there is also things that are out of order.

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Maguire had a bomb threat at his house in Cheshire towards the end of last season.

The pair were also the two most abused players on Twitter throughout the 2021/22 campaign.

"Obviously there is a line that can be crossed and things that we could probably do a little bit better in this country to enable that."

The defender is likely to start on Sunday when United host Brighton in their Premier League opener. Ten Hag has hinted that Lisandro Martinez could partner him at the back.