Manchester United head coach Erik ten Hag branded Harry Maguire "a very good player" when asked whether the centre-back was in contention to start against Sevilla on Thursday.

The 30-year-old has lost his starting role at Old Trafford this season, with Raphael Varane and Lisandro Martinez becoming Ten Hag's preferred duo in the middle of the defence.

There is currently a host of speculation surrounding Maguire's future at Old Trafford, with the defender potentially leaving the club this summer in search of regular action.

The former Sheffield United youngster was handed just his sixth Premier League start of the campaign against Everton on Saturday and helped the Red Devils keep a clean sheet in a 2-0 win.

Varane was only rested against the Toffees, with the Frenchman widely expected to come back into the team alongside Martinez against Sevilla in the first leg of the Europa League quarter-final.

However, Ten Hag has said that Maguire is in contention to keep hold of his starting role on Thursday night.

"I think he is in contention for every game because he is a very good player and we have also seen on Saturday how good he is in the team," Ten Hag told reporters during his press conference on Wednesday.

"He was doing well so he is always in contention, but we have more [players]. I think I am happy with how my team is defending. I think we are defending with 11 and we have a great goalie and that gives us and brings us so many clean sheets and we are happy with that.

"But we have to do it every game. We know that. We have to keep the discipline, in a defensive transition especially and in defending the set plays.

"I think we are making good progress but we have to keep that progress and the process going because we are not satisfied. We want to do more and we know [that] if you want to win leagues, if you want to win competitions, clean sheets is always the base of it."

Two of Maguire's five Europa League appearances this season have come from the start, but he has not played in three of the team's last four games in the competition.

Following the centre-back's performance against Everton on Saturday, Ten Hag said that he was now seeing 'a different player' to the one who struggled earlier this season.

Maguire is expected to consider his future at the end of the campaign, though, with Paris Saint-Germain, Newcastle United and Leicester City among the clubs to be recently linked with his services.