Harry Maguire believes the harder times he has experienced at Manchester United would have broken many players and says he has seen teammates find the Old Trafford spotlight too big to handle.

Maguire, who feels he is “arguably one of the best defenders in the world in both boxes”, this week signed a new one-year contract with the option of a further season. That extends a United career which began when the club paid a then world-record fee for a defender, £80m, to sign him from Leicester in 2019.

The 33-year-old has made 266 appearances for United, winning the FA Cup and Carabao Cup, and has had many ups and downs. Appointed captain by Ole Gunnar Solskjær in 2020, he experienced a downturn in form as the Norwegian’s reign unravelled, lost his place under Erik ten Hag and appeared poised to leave for West Ham in the summer of 2023, having lost the armband to Bruno Fernandes.

Maguire said what he called a laidback attitude, never listening to outside noise, had helped him overcome those hurdles to again become a key player for United.

“I see a lot of players come into this club and quite frankly it’s just...