Man United captain Harry Maguire has endured a difficult season and it has led to calls for someone else to take the armband.
Harry Maguire of Manchester United.
Erik ten Hag has been told that Cristiano Ronaldo should be the captain of his side next season.
It's been yet another massively disappointing campaign for Manchester United which had initially begun with optimism of challenging for the Premier League title. That didn't even come to fruition.
Instead, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was sacked, Ralf Rangnick hasn't done any better, almost every player has underperformed and fan satisfaction has plummeted to further depths. The only glimmer of hope ahead of next season is that United did manage to achieve their aim of getting their next permanent manager in place before the conclusion of the current campaign.
It was officially confirmed that Ten Hag would take charge at Old Trafford in the summer last month after the Dutchman put pen to paper on a three-year deal, with the option of a further 12 months. United paid Ajax £1.75million to release him from his contract.
The Dutchman will have plenty of work to do if he is to arrest United's continued decline and get them challenging for silverware again, with the club's trophy drought now stretched to five years. Ten Hag will have a lot of difficult decisions on his plate as soon as he gets through the door and one of the most important is the captaincy.
Harry Maguire has been United captain since January 2020, just a few months after his big-money move from Leicester, when he was given the armband following the departure of Ashley Young for Inter. The centre-back has struggled to live up to his steep price tag and has had an especially difficult year this term.
Erik ten Hag pictured on the sidelines during Ajax's latest victory on Saturday
Erik ten Hag pictured on the sidelines during Ajax's latest victory on Saturday
Maguire has come in for plenty of criticism for his performances as well as his leadership capacity, which has led to calls for him to be unburdened of the captaincy so he can focus on improving his own form. Ten Hag will have to decide whether or not to stick with the 29-year-old as skipper or appoint someone else.
United supporters certainly believe that the incoming boss should appoint a new captain. MEN Sport asked fans: "Who should be the Manchester United captain next season?"
Just three per cent of the 8,242 voters believed that Maguire should keep the armband going into the 2022/23 campaign. It was close between who they did want to see named captain, however, with Ronaldo narrowly defeating David de Gea with 47 per cent of the vote compared to 40 per cent.
The pair are United's most experienced players and have both captained the side before on the pitch. Ronaldo is an especially experienced leader as he captains the Portugal national team. The only issue is that his future remains uncertain after United's failure to secure Champions League football.
The remaining 10 per cent of voters opted for 'other,' with Bruno Fernandes, Raphael Varane and a new signing being suggested.
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