The five Manchester United squad issues for Erik ten Hag to sort

Who's the captain?

It would not be unprecedented for an existing Manchester United player to relinquish the captaincy. Nemanja Vidic took the armband from Gary Neville at the start of 2010-11 as Sir Alex Ferguson wanted a consistent starter. The creaking Neville, 35, started four games that season before a calamitous career-ending performance at West Brom on New Year's Day.

Harry Maguire would likely not be as sanguine if he was stripped of the captaincy. Maguire is 29 and has up to four years left on his United contract. He helped England to a World Cup semi-final and the European Championship final, yet his club campaign has been a disaster and his promotion to captain in January 2020 was premature.

Maguire is not a busted flush. Pep Guardiola covetously called three years ago and Ferguson was vexed by how protracted United's negotiations became with Leicester.

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Ten Hag could draw a definitive line under the Solskjaer era by picking his own lieutenant. Bruno Fernandes, a regular starter under contract until 2027 at the latest, would be an obvious pick but his performance level this season has been dire. Raphael Varane would be a credible contender but is too injury-prone. David de Gea is worthy of consideration, though it is unclear if Ten Hag intends to retain the Spaniard as number one.

What to do with Ronaldo?

United's season took a turn for the worse with Cristiano Ronaldo's disproportionate and deplorable reaction to an Everton fan filming him at Goodison Park. Ronaldo's homecoming was always a curious move and while his season individually has been a reasonable success United remain synonymous with failure.

Ajax thrived under Ten Hag in