Harry Maguire, Erik ten Hag or Gareth Southgate: Someone needs to back down over Manchester United defender's future - Stuart Rayner

Somebody needs to back down.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, given what we are like, one is a Yorkshireman, another an adopted Yorkshireman.

Erik ten Hag is a Dutchman, whose football folk are known to be fond of digging their heels in on points of principle too.

The Manchester United manager seems adamant Harry Maguire is not good enough to be any more than a bit-part player in his squad. It is his right to overlook a player whose lack of pace is unsuited to the high-line defending he wants to play.

But the centre-back from Sheffield is pretty stubborn too. He has two years left on his lucrative Old Trafford contract and will only walk away from it on his terms – terms no other club he wanted to join was willing and able to meet in the last transfer window.

He is not the only employee in Britain who would be reluctant to uproot his family for a pay cut.

But England manager Gareth Southgate, a Harrogate resident since his Middlesbrough days, is not for budging either.

He values Maguire's abilities and is willing to work around his shortcomings. Maguire played 90 minutes in Wroclaw on Saturday and 45 in Glasgow on Tuesday, ending that game as captain.

Maguire's England record has bought that loyalty and, as with Kalvin Phillips, alternatives are scarce.

Southgate referred after the game to Maguire's treatment from pundits as "a joke" but that is what the former Sheffield United and Hull City centre-back has become in certain circles.

Who was Scotland's only goalscorer in Tuesday's 3-1 defeat? Maguire of course.

Who scored an own goal when his club was knocked out of Europe last season? Old Slabhead of course.

When Declan Rice scored Arsenal's stoppage-time winner in the last televised Premier League game, who did it bounce in off? Hapless Harry.

Lady Luck has a pretty sick sense of humour.

Being laughed at by rival fans is neither here nor there. Maguire has broad shoulders, a big pay packet and his own in-stadium fans on his side. He is so unwilling to hide he seems to do more media interviews than most Premier League regulars. Good on him.

But as Scotland, with their 100 per cent qualifying record found out this week, the elite end of international football is pretty sharp.

Even with his ability in the right set-up, the odd club appearance will not cut it if Maguire is to successfully chase Europe's best strikers around in Germany next summer.

Assuming ten Hag does not have an epiphany or an injury crisis leaving him no choice but to regularly play the man he has taken his club's armband off, Maguire has to move in January for his own good.

If not, Southgate must show him the ultimate loyalty of protecting a player he loves – and England.

Somebody needs to end this three-way stand off. It is just hard to see who it will be.