HARRY MAGUIRE is happy to keep playing as a makeshift striker so Manchester United stay on course for a £100million jackpot.
The England centre-back did his bit to help ‘Make Amorim Great Again’ with an incredible 121st-minute winner against Lyon to secure a Europa League semi-final.
Glory in that competition would hand United a lucrative ticket to next season’s Champions League.
But boss Ruben Amorim has a striker crisis with Joshua Zirkzee crocked and Rasmus Hojlund scoring just one goal in 27 games.
Maguire, who has scored four key goals this season, said: “You can see that we’re probably short on attackers.
“We had two attackers in Alejandro Garnacho and Rasmus that gave everything out there.
“We lost Josh, so if he asks me to go up there, I’m willing to go up there.
“I do see myself as a threat and I do feel like I can cause problems and score a goal up there when the balls and crosses are coming in.”
“I only got 30 minutes up there and it’s a lot harder than playing centre back.”
Amorim has no plans to use Maguire as a forward from the start – but he has been impressed by the impact he can make.
United’s boss has seen enough in training and in matches to know the £80m man is a useful attacking weapon when needed.
Asked about the possibility of him starting up front, Amorim said: “To play a normal game, no. But in these moments it is something that is really important.
“When I see Harry and put him as a striker, I just see one guy who is good in the box. He knows how to behave in that space.”
United were staring at the prospect of no European football next season when ten-man Lyon took a 4-2 lead in the 109th minute at Old Trafford on Thursday.
But the home side struck three times in seven minutes to turn the quarter final on its head – with Maguire stealing the glory with his winner.
If United can beat Athletic Bilbao in the semis and then lift the trophy three weeks later then it would be huge for the Red Devils.
Doing that alone would be worth around £14.8m for United while the Super Cup in Italy in August would bank another £4.3m.
However it is the ticket to next season’s Champions League which will really prove to be invaluable for owners Sir Jim Ratcliffe and the Glazers.
They would be guaranteed around £49m, due to their Uefa co-efficient, while four home games would add another £20m in income.
In addition, even an average season at Europe’s top table – such as the one neighbours City had this season – would see them pocket around £11m in prize money.
If they reached the first knock-out round then that would be £5m more.
The Europa League also brought the start of Maguire’s goalscoring exploits in October — a superb last-gasp header to level up a six-goal thriller in Porto.
Then came February’s injury-time winner in the 2-1 FA Cup fourth-round win over his old club Leicester at Old Trafford.
Three weeks later, he nodded the decisive goal to spare United’s blushes against relegation-bound Ipswich at the Theatre of Dreams.
So it should surprise nobody that he has used his bonce to good effect again — stooping to put his team into the semi-finals on an unforgettable night.
Maguire, who seemed set for the exit door with West Ham under two years ago, added: “It’s an incredible feeling — I’ve obviously managed to do it a few times this year in the last minute, the dying moments.
“There’s no better feeling than scoring here, particularly when it’s the match-winner.
“I’ve had some amazing moments at this club, I’ve been here six years now. I’ve had some great times — and some bad ones as well.
“That game pretty much summed up my time at the club.
“It was a game full of emotion and the strangest, maddest game I’ve ever played in or witnessed.”
United’s season of turmoil looked to be hitting a new low as they blew a 2-0 lead to trail ten-man Lyon 4-2 in extra-time.
But three goals in seven minutes turned a topsy-turvy tie on its head, with Maguire stealing the glory right at the end.
The Yorkshireman added: “This season has been so difficult for everyone involved, all the fans, players and staff.
“It’s just been nowhere near good enough and when you get moments like that, and memories you create, it’s so important for the fans to go home with a smile on their faces.”
The turnaround was so incredible you could not escape the feeling their name might just be on the Europa League.
But they will need to perform far better to see off Ernesto Valverde’s impressive Athletic Bilbao outfit.
The fact they shipped four goals at home will concern United manager Ruben Amorim.
And just one of United’s seven goals in the tie with Lyon was scored by a striker — and that was Zirkzee, who has since suffered a hamstring injury.
Maguire said: “We’ve got to do far better than that if we want to win this competition. We can’t be doing that and be leaving it to turn it around in that situation.
“But it does show great spirit, fight, togetherness. And that’s the one thing this group of lads is doing — they’re giving everything.
“The worst feeling was that we felt we’d thrown it away, rather than lost the game at that moment.
“Also how we managed to get ourselves into that situation.
“Going into extra-time at 2-2, we obviously can’t get done on two counter-attacks like that when we’re playing against ten men. It’s criminal.”
At that stage, United looked out for the count, even with a man extra.
But the sight of Lyon wildly celebrating their goals and getting ready to mark a famous win seemed to ignite something inside United’s players.
Maguire added: “I still thought there was a lot of time on the clock.
"And it was the 109th minute when they scored the fourth.
“I think they thought they had won it, the way they were celebrating.
"That gave us more of an incentive to turn the game around.”
In stark contrast to their Premier League form, United are the only unbeaten team left in European competition this season.
And lifting the trophy in Bilbao on May 21, would take them back into the Champions League.
Should that happen, the inspirational Maguire’s latest late show will have been priceless.