Maguire reveals Man United GPS-track players through extended summer break

Harry Maguire has revealed that Manchester United are remotely monitoring players’ fitness during the summer break, issuing GPS trackers that feed data back to the club alongside structured training schedules. The 33-year-old centre-back, left out of Thomas Tuchel’s England squad for the World Cup, is currently enjoying the longest off-season of his career.

Maguire made no secret of his disappointment at the omission, posting on social media shortly after the squad announcement. “I was confident I could have played a major part this summer for my country after the season I’ve had,” he wrote. “I’ve been left shocked and gutted by the decision.”

The defender missed a second consecutive major tournament, having been ruled out of Euro 2024 with a calf injury. When fit last season, he remained a consistent starter in United’s line-up.

Speaking on The Rest Is Football podcast, recorded in New York, Maguire described the off-season as “unusual”. “We are back in I think Wednesday — the 9th [of July],” he said. “This is the longest [break] I’ve had since I made my England debut. It’s been nice, but it’s been strange.”

He added that the extended rest comes with an unusually long pre-season runway. “I’ll have had six-and-a-half weeks off, but then the pre-season — I normally get about three weeks before the first game, this year I’m going to have six-and-a-half weeks, so I’ve got a long way to build up. Man United send you a schedule, they send you a GPS to make sure that you’re doing it. Yeah, they keep on top of you.”

Michael Carrick will oversee his first pre-season as United’s head coach, with the club scheduled to play friendlies across Finland, Sweden, Norway, the Republic of Ireland and Poland throughout July and August. The tour opens on 18 July against Wrexham in Helsinki, before United travel to Trondheim to face Rosenborg on 24 July and then meet Atletico Madrid in Stockholm on 1 August. Further fixtures are lined up against Paris Saint-Germain in Gothenburg on 8 August and Leeds United later in the schedule.