Man Utd: Cristiano Ronaldo & Harry Maguire in 'power struggle' over captaincy

The 2021/22 season has been a tough one for Manchester United thus far.

Tuesday’s 2-0 victory over Brighton in the Premier League was a rare positive since Ralf Rangnick took charge and the team still face an uphill battle to finish in the top four.

A number of high-profile players at United have failed to deliver for much of the campaign, including club captain Harry Maguire.

The world’s most expensive defender has looked a pale shadow of the player that lit up Euro 2020 last summer and there’s been calls from fans to demote him to the bench.

According to a rather damning report by The Mirror, Maguire’s dismal form has resulted in Rangnick holding conversations with the centre-back and Cristiano Ronaldo about the former relinquishing the captain’s armband for a while.

Unsurprisingly, Maguire is reluctant to do that, as he’s fearful that it will result in him being stripped of the responsibility on a permanent basis.

The report goes on to say that Rangnick has asked Ronaldo to mentor the younger players in the squad like Jadon Sancho and Marcus Rashford, a decision that has apparently not gone down well with Maguire.

United’s current captain is said to feel undermined in the dressing room by the five-time Ballon d’Or winner and now believes he lacks a certain degree of authority, which is subsequently leading to a loss of respect.

Rather worryingly for Maguire, the report adds that there’s growing belief behind-closed-doors at Old Trafford that Ronaldo will replace him as captain in due course.

It doesn’t sound like a great situation to have at a top football club and that’s why it’s no shock to learn that many of the younger players feel ‘conflicted’ by it all.

They apparently don’t know whether to remain loyal to