Harry Maguire vindicated after Manchester United lose ‘leader’ on deadline day
Manchester United have lost a player that Harry Maguire previously described as a ‘leader’ (Image: GETTY)
Manchester United defender Harry Maguire has been proven right after previously describing Axel Tuanzebe as a “leader”. And the defender has helped the Tractor Boys storm to second-place in the Championship table.
Tuanzebe joined United as a schoolboy and made his first team debut during a fourth round FA Cup clash with Wigan in January 2017. Tuanzebe appeared to be on course to enjoy a stellar career in Manchester after he was handed the club’s Jimmy Murphy young player of the year award in 2015.
And in 2021, Maguire lauded the star as he explained: “We have a lot of leaders in the dressing room, a lot of senior pros. “And you don’t have to be a senior pro to be a leader.
Axel is a leader, in the ways that he works and speaks in the dressing room. And he’s only a young boy, he’s still learning his trade.
I’m sure he’ll go on to have an unbelievable career.”
Former United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer had already paid tribute to Tuanzebe after naming him as the Red Devils’ youngest ever captain during a third round Carabao Cup clash with Rochdale in 2019. The Norwegian stated: “Axel is a captain in the making, he’s a leader.
Why not give it to young kids? How does he handle it?
He was absolutely fine, he enjoyed it. It’s just a way of telling him that we trust him.”
Tuanzebe suffered a number of injury problems during his time at Old Trafford and never managed to hold down a regular starting place despite his early promise.
And he was shipped off on loan to Aston Villa and Napoli ahead of his temporary spell with Stoke. Former Man Utd star Axel Tuanzebe is now playing for Ipswich in the Championship (Image: GETTY)
But Tuanzebe appears to be getting his career back on track in Ipswich and has illustrated his prodigious talents in England’s second tier.
The former England under-21s international is starting to get more game time and has been on the losing side just once in the Championship this season. Ipswich are currently second in the Championship table after winning 17 of their 28 matches.
And if Tuanzebe and his team-mates can build on their performances from the first half of the season, the Suffolk side could secure their return to the Premier League for the first time in more than two decades.
