Erik ten Hag 'denied' £21m transfer wish as Man United told to make Bruno Fernandes change

The first international break of the season is over and for Erik ten Hag and Manchester United there is a lot of work to do.

The Red Devils fell to a 3-0 home defeat against rivals Liverpool on Sunday afternoon. It was the team’s second defeat in a row, following the late 2-1 loss vs Brighton and Hove Albion eight days earlier.

It means that United have won just one of their opening three games. The break does however give Ten Hag the chance to step back and assess ahead of the Premier League clash vs Southampton in just under two weeks.

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That game could see new signing Manuel Ugarte make his debut after a deadline-day move from Paris Saint Germain. He is however now on international duty with Uruguay.

While we wait for the return of domestic football, MEN Sport have taken a look at a couple of the stories doing the rounds. We’ve also given our own thoughts on the situation.

Former Premier League manager Alan Pardew has suggested taking the Manchester United captaincy off Bruno Fernandes will help the player. The midfielder wore the captain’s armband for the 3-0 defeat against Liverpool, but is yet to score or assist in his three Premier League games yet this season.

Pardew has suggested that the pressure of being captain could be impacting on his performances.

“You've got your skipper out there, you've got a technical skipper,” he told TalkSPORT. “When you've got a technician as a skipper, I think it's always dangerous because they're going to have off games.

“Even [Christian] Eriksen in his prime, [Michel] Platini in his prime,