Former Manchester United defender Marcos Rojo has revealed his anger at being left out for Harry Maguire under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer at Old Trafford.
The Argentine said the England international was making “huge mistakes” but claimed his manager kept playing the new arrival due to the amount paid for him. Maguire arrived at United in 2019 in an £80m deal from Leicester.
That remains the record for the most money spent on a defender. Many United fans have lost patience with the club captain, who has fallen down Erik ten Hag’s pecking order.
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Maguire has started just seven Premier League games this season, sitting behind Lisandro Martinez, Raphael Varane, Luke Shaw and Victor Lindelof for selection. During his first season, he started every league game, mostly alongside Lindelof.
It meant Rojo's game time was restricted, playing just nine times in the first half of the 2019-20 campaign before his loan switch to Boca Juniors. The defender has now detailed his fury at being left out by Solskjaer when Maguire was “making huge mistakes every week”.
The 33-year-old - who won a treble with Boca Juniors last year - revealed how he gave his boss an ultimatum about his future, and is glad countryman Martinez is now playing ahead of him at United.
He told TyC Sports: "In 2019 I was playing in the Europa League, but I was really angry with the Manchester coach [Solskjaer] because he was putting Maguire [in the team] instead of me. Thank god finally they took him out from the starting line-up for Licha [Lisandro] Martinez.
"One day I went to Solskjaer’s office to tell him to let me leave for the other club or put [me] in the starting line-up, but he told me that Maguire had to play because of the money they paid for him.
"He [Maguire] was making huge mistakes already and I told Solskjaer: 'Son of a b***h let me play because this guy is making huge mistakes every week'."
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