Erik ten Hag told to take Man United captaincy off Harry Maguire and give it to summer signing

Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag should take his time and keep all options open with regards to the club's captaincy dilemma. That is the message from ex-Liverpool player Danny Murphy amid suggestions the armband is set to be reassigned as part of a summer rebuild.

Harry Maguire has been captain since soon after his £80million move from Leicester in 2019. However, due to his lack of form and influence, question marks have been raised over his status and Ten Hag left the matter open when addressing the media upon his appointment in the Old Trafford dugout.

United goalkeeper David de Gea and Cristiano Ronaldo would come under consideration as possible options, while Bruno Fernandes has previously served as vice-captain to Maguire.

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There is also scope to hand over the leadership to incoming summer signings. However, that should only be if they are deemed capable of captaining United in the longer term.

Speaking on radio station talkSPORT, former Liverpool midfielder turned pundit Murphy said: "I don't think it should be set in stone, but in this particular occasion, it is a very important decision for United moving forward and not one to be taken lightly. I certainly don't think he should be leaving that down to the players.

"What you could do is leave it as it is so you can give yourself a bit of time to make the right decision. My feeling is, sometimes for a new manager, to give the captaincy to a player he trusts who he brings in from the outside. If you bring in a leader and go 'you're the leader and captain as well' you're together then."

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