Erik ten Hag has confirmed that Harry Maguire will continue to represent Manchester United as club captain. Speaking at a press conference in Bangkok, the new manager gave Maguire a huge vote of confidence.
The England international has been club captain since January 2020, having been given the role by previous manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, though many fans have been jumping to social media over the past 12 months to argue why a new captain is needed.
Following Solskjaer’s dismissal in October of last year, it was decided that Ralf Rangnick would lead the first team as interim manager, but he didn’t want to change the captaincy mid-season.
And it wasn’t long before Erik ten Hag’s arrival this summer that the new manager was asked about his preferred candidate for the captaincy role.
Maguire was one of many United players to perform poorly last season. I’m not making any excuses for him, but I think Ten Hag is trying to give every player a clean page for the new season. Ultimately, his aim is to get them all back to playing at their peak level.
Getting the squad on side from the beginning could work in the Dutchman’s favour.
In a press conference this morning, Ten Hag insisted Maguire will continue in the role as captain.
“I have to get to know all the players, but he’s an established captain and he’s achieved a lot of success,” Ten Hag said, as quoted by the Daily Mail.
🗣 "Harry Maguire is the captain. He is an established captain and he's achieved a lot of success."
Erik ten Hag comments on the position of Harry Maguire in the Manchester United squad pic.twitter.com/hUCl4xHqmq
— Football Daily (@footballdaily) July 11, 2022
Footage courtesy of Sky Sports News
Ten Hag will get to know his players better over the coming weeks and as fans we’ll soon see his preferred centre-back partnership, which could be altered in the transfer market if United can reach an agreement with Ajax over the signing of Lisandro Martinez.
Maguire should welcome any competition after the manager’s recent comments. He’ll hopefully become a better player under the new management.
