Rio Ferdinand names Manchester United player who should have asked to be made captain

Marcus Rashford’s club experience and “gravitas” would make him a candidate for Manchester United captain, according to Rio Ferdinand.

The former Reds defender says the attacker ought to have made a push for the armband when Erik ten Hag stripped the honour off of Harry Maguire in the summer. Fernandes has been criticised for his skippership by some.

Following the 3-0 defeat to Manchester City in October, Roy Keane - captain of United between 1997 and 2005 - said he would strip Fernandes of the honour while Gary Neville suggested the player should relinquish his duties at the end of the season. Fernandes had bore the armband for most of last season while Maguire was benched.

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Analysts have often pointed to the lack of alternative captain options at the club, including Ferdinand. However, he believes academy product Rashford, who scored 30 goals last term, had the right to put his name forward for the role over the summer.

“If I was him [Rashford], being at the club that long and with the status he’s got in the game, when the captaincy came up I’d be wanting to have that armband because I think he’s got the experience and the gravitas to do that,“ Ferdinand told talkSPORT.

“We can talk about if he’s world-class or not, but all of these players need to go out there and graft – that’s it.”

Back in September, Paul Scholes took a different view on Rashford, saying: “I know when Harry lost his captaincy, people were talking about Marcus being (the next one) - I never saw that. Look, I don’t know him in the dressing room, but he wouldn’t be someone who strikes me as being a captain.“

Rashford