Man City mentality a boost for England, says Maguire

England's squad will be joined by a cluster of Champions League final winners next week to go alongside Manchester City's treble stars.

Published : May 29, 2019 13:10 IST

Harry Maguire believes the serial winners from Manchester City in England's squad point the way to glory in the Nations League Finals.

Gareth Southgate's side take on the Netherlands in their semifinal when the inaugural edition of UEFA's latest international tournament concludes in Portugal next week.

Maguire and his team-mates have been operating with reduced numbers as they prepare at England's St George's Park base, with seven of their colleagues set to be involved in Saturday's Champions League final between Tottenham and Liverpool.

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Chelsea midfielder Ross Barkley will join the group after Wednesday's Europa League final against Arsenal in Baku, although Raheem Sterling, Kyle Walker John Stones and Fabian Delph are all present and correct after sweeping the board domestically with Manchester City.

Leicester City centre-back Maguire feels having players who have recently tasted such success at club level can only benefit England as the 1966 World Cup winners go in search of a rare piece of silverware.

"It's been a long time since we've had a trophy. You want to be winners," he told a news conference.

"We've got a lot of winners in our team. You've seen with the Man City boys who've just turned up and won three trophies this year.

"We've got a lot of winning mentality in our team and hopefully we can transfer it to international football now."

Recent speculation has suggested Pep Guardiola has designs on adding Maguire to his England contingent at the Etihad Stadium.

But the 27-year-old, who is also being linked to Manchester United for a second consecutive close season, insists such talk is not a distraction when he dons national-team colours.

"When I'm away with England I don't think about anything to do with club football," Maguire said.

"As soon as I wear this badge it's really important for myself to focus on England and nothing else.

"At the moment, nothing's going through my head in terms of club football. I'm fully focused on the games coming up."

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When England face the Netherlands in Guimaraes, their opponents will be able to call upon arguably the two finest centre-backs in Europe right now.

Maguire is full of admiration for both Liverpool's PFA Player of the Year Virgil van Dijk and Ajax sensation Matthijs de Ligt.

"They've both had excellent years," he added. "De Ligt has been a 19-year-old captain at Ajax and managed to get through to the Champions League semi-finals. He's a had a great year.

"And you've seen Van Dijk has been the standout performer in the Premier League. Liverpool have kept the most clean sheets.

"He's a top, top player and I'm sure all the defenders who are watching him will be learning from him."

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