Man Utd strip Harry Maguire of captaincy as defender releases statement

Harry Maguire has detailed his sadness after being stripped of the Manchester United captaincy by head coach Erik ten Hag. The £80million central defender was handed the armband by former boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in January 2020 following Ashley Young’s departure to Inter Milan but now he has been informed he will no longer be leading the side heading into the 2023/24 campaign.

Although United are yet to announce who will be appointed as Maguire’s successor, Bruno Fernandes is expected to step up into the role following his prolonged stint as vice-captain.

Fernandes donned the armband for the crux of last season due to Maguire’s lack of playing time and the pair lifted the Carabao Cup together back in February following the 2-0 triumph over Newcastle at Wembley.

Maguire said via an emotional statement on his social media channels: “After discussions with the manager today he has informed me he is changing captain. He outlined his reasons to me and whilst I’m personally extremely disappointed, I will continue to give my all every time I wear the shirt.

“So I wanted to say a massive thank you to the Manchester United fans for all their brilliant support whilst I’ve been wearing the armband.

“Since the day I took on the role, three and half years ago, it’s been a huge privilege to lead Manchester United and one of the proudest moments of my career to date. It’s one of the greatest honours in club football. I’ve done everything I possibly could to help United be successful – on and off the field.

“I will always be grateful to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer for first giving me the responsibility and I wish whoever now takes it on every success and they will have my full support. Harry.”

The ruthless call plunges Maguire’s Old Trafford future into further doubt although initially, the centre-back is understood to have reaffirmed his commitment to fighting for his place at United despite falling out of favour last term.

West Ham have now shown interest in signing the 30-year-old and the Hammers have plenty of cash to hand following the £105million club-record sale of Declan Rice to Arsenal which was finally completed on Saturday.

David Moyes is thought to be a big fan of Maguire but it remains to be seen whether he can entice the England international into the move.

Speaking back in May, England boss Gareth Southgate warned Maguire among others that he could not continue picking them at international level should they not be featuring for their respective club sides.

“Inevitably it’s not a situation that can continue for ever,” Southgate said after selecting the likes of Maguire and Kalvin Phillips despite a lack of action in the Premier League with United and Manchester City, respectively.

Tottenham had also been credited with an interest earlier in the window but Spurs are yet to make a move and remain in talks with Bayer Leverkusen and Wolfsburg over the signings of Edmond Tapsoba and Micky van de Ven.

Lisandro Martinez and Raphael Varane are expected to remain United’s first-choice central defensive pairing next term while Victor Lindelof finished the 2022/23 campaign strongly following the Argentine’s metatarsal injury that required surgery.

United have also monitored the transfer market for another centre-back but it’s understood Maguire must be sold first before a deal in that department can be struck.

Since then, target Kim Min-jae has undergone a medical at Bayern and Newcastle are lurking for Monaco’s Axel Disasi, another player admired by Ten Hag.

Speaking in May, the United boss made it clear the player’s future was in Maguire’s hands – hinting he would be willing to sanction his exit this summer.

“Let’s say I’m happy he’s here and when we needed him he did his job,” he told the Times. “But it’s also a decision he has to make.

“No one would be happy with this situation – he is not as well. He trains always on the best levels, so with 100 percent effort. So he handles that situation well and he’s in that manner and in his captaincy he’s important for the squad.”