Hero Harry not pining over United
HARRY MAGUIRE had no qualms about missing out on a move to Manchester United after giving Southampton shirt shrift.
England’s World Cup colossus threaded Leicester’s stoppagetime winner through the legs of two Saints defenders, confirming what every galloping gourmet knows: for the best dish, add nutmeg.
Maguire removed his shirt to celebrate with the travelling Foxes fans, before the man who got his head on the end of just about everything in Russia got his head around the £75million move to Old Trafford that never happened.
“I haven’t found it difficult to block out all the speculation and outside noise – I just want to be on the pitch, whether it’s for someone else or Leicester,” he said. “There was always going to be interest after England did so well, but the owners reiterated that I was not for sale and I respected that decision.
“They gave me the opportunity to play for this club – such a good club on the rise – and my mind has been fully on Leicester since then.
“I’ve been impressed since I came back. The people brought in seem to have fitted in well and we’ll only get better. If we stick together we can be a real force.”
Maguire, 25, has settled back into civilian altitude after his summer in a stellar orbit, admitting he needed to restore factory settings after becoming a cult hero.
He said: “My life has not really changed – I still do the same things week in, week out, I train and play the same way and it is not a lot different apart from more recognition when I’m out and about.
SOUTHAMPTON
Maybe it was a little bit difficult to get back to the day job at first because it was a whirlwind of a summer.
“I’m not a training guy, I love being out there. Scoring a last-minute winner in front of the away fans, it doesn’t get much better for a defender.
“The adrenaline took over – taking my shirt off cost me a yellow card and in a few days I’ll probably regret it, but not right now.”
His boss Claude Puel, sent packing by Saints because a top-eight finish and Wembley final were deemed not enough, won for the second time in eight months on his return to St Mary’s. Whispering Claude wouldn’t normally say boo to a goose, and he got away with murmur on the south coast, but he charged onto the pitch in celebration when Maguire scored.
Ryan Bertrand’s thunderbolt had put Saints ahead but they lost their way after Demarai Gray’s leveller and couldn’t hold on after Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg’s dismissal for two yellows – the second for diving.
Skipper Bertrand said: “You need maturity to close the game out.”
SOUTHAMPTON (4-2-3-1):