Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag is expected to name a new club captain in the coming days after taking the armband away from Harry Maguire following crunch talks
Erik ten Hag has yet to decide who will succeed Harry Maguire as the next Manchester United captain – but the Dutchman looks set to ignore the defender’s previous advice over the armband.
After losing his spot in the team shortly after Ten Hag’s arrival last season, Maguire’s long-term future at Old Trafford has been in doubt for months. However, few were expecting the England star to announce that he had been stripped of the captaincy just days before United’s pre-season tour of the United States.
The 30-year-old expressed his disappointment in a lengthy statement on social media and is now expected to seek a summer transfer after falling behind the likes of Raphael Varane, Lisandro Martinez and Victor Lindelof in the pecking order during the 2022/23 campaign.
All eyes are now on Ten Hag, who made the decision without briefing the dressing room. Bruno Fernandes deputised more often than not as club captain when Maguire was out of favour last term, but it remains to be seen whether the Portuguese playmaker will be handed the gig on a full-time basis.