Roy Keane told Man Utd to strip Bruno Fernandes of captaincy as Ruben Amorim drops replacement hint

Roy Keane once told Manchester United to strip Bruno Fernandes of the captaincy.

Boxing Day saw Ruben Amorim’s men fall to a 2-0 defeat against Wolverhampton Wanderers and United skipper Fernandes sent off after picking up two bookings.

The Portugal international is now suspended from the Old Trafford club’s Monday night encounter with Newcastle United.

Amorim has since hinted that former skipper Harry Maguire could take the armband for that game.

When pressed as to Fernandes’ replacement, Amorim said: “You will have to wait and see about the captain." But when asked to further expand on Maguire’s influence since he arrived at the club, Amorim added: “He’s working really well. He’s focused on the job, not what people say.

“He has no excuses - even if he’s had some tough moments. In that respect, he’s an example. He’s there to play to help the team and he’s trying to do that.”

While United will have a new skipper for one game only, former club talisman Keane will likely be hoping the midfielder is replaced beyond Monday night.

Indeed, last term after United’s 3-0 defeat to rivals Manchester City, Keane called for Fernandes to be stripped of the captaincy.

"Today having watched him again I would take the captaincy off him 100 per cent," Keane told Sky Sports.

"I know it's a big decision, obviously they changed the captaincy with Maguire, but Fernandes is not captain material.

Fernandes was sent off against Wolves (Getty)

"He is a talented player no doubt about it. But what I saw today - we've discussed many times before, it was last season at Liverpool - his whinging, his moaning and throwing his arms up in the air constantly.

"It really isn't acceptable. From what we saw today, I'm thinking I would take that off him.

"You have to start somewhere. We were talking about where do you start [fixing the problems] - the manager, board level. I would start with that because the manager is capable of doing that.

"Fernandes is a brilliant footballer but in terms of captain material he is the opposite to what I would want in a captain."