Erik ten Hag's captain comments point towards a new Manchester United skipper

It would be fair to say that Harry Maguire is currently burdened with the Manchester United captain's armband.

His performance levels while captaining the club have been below par and the weight of expectation he feels as the face of United is evident. Reds fans have been crying out for Maguire to be replaced as captain as made clear by them rating the centre back as the worst player at the club this season.

While Maguire has been struggling, Erik ten Hag has seemingly won over the United board who are looking to replace Ole Gunnar Solskjaer permanently. The Manchester Evening News understands that the hierarchy at Old Trafford favour Ten Hag becoming the new United boss.

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With a new manager comes new ideas and a change of captaincy will likely be on the Dutchman's to-do list. If he is to replace the United captain, Ten Hag has already dropped a hint at what he is looking for.

He told Fox Sports back in 2019 about his criteria for choosing a captain when Matthijs de Ligt was appointed at Ajax. "I wanted his attitude to be communicated to the team," Ten Hag explained.

It could be argued that this points at Cristiano Ronaldo taking the armband however, at 37, he is unlikely to fit the long term vision which Ten Hag would want to instil. Instead, Raphael Varane could be the man to take over the reins.

When not blighted by injury, Varane has been an ever-present in the United squad and it is no secret that Maguire has been performing much better when the Frenchman is beside him. His attitude is also exactly what is needed at United while they are in the midst of their current predicament.

Paul Pogba once described Varane