Harry Maguire looks set to lose the Manchester United captaincy before next season, but it won't be to Cristiano Ronaldo as most would have expected.
Maguire's captaincy has been brought into question time and time again, since being given the armband by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in January 2020.
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Those questions only got louder in the past season, with the addition of Ronaldo into the team reportedly causing a power struggle within the dressing room.
The centre back's form has also led to questions about his ability to lead the team, and even stay in the starting XI at times, and Erik ten Hag has reportedly told sources he's willing to let the dressing room decide on who the captain is.
According to the Sun, the new manager is ready to implement the system to pick the team leader and the report claims that it won't be Ronaldo, but instead David de Gea who gets chosen.
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Ronaldo will of course be in the running but the goalkeeper is seen as the man to reunite what has been a fractured dressing room at times.
It will say less about the two players who miss out and more on De Gea, and the respect that his teammates have for him after saving them time and time again.
The 31-year-old once again won the club's Players' Player of the Year Award earlier this week, his fourth time being voted by his peers.
It goes along with the four times that he's been awarded the Sir Matt Busby Award, for the player of the season, as chosen by the club's members, although that went to Ronaldo this year.
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His success in both awards suggests how bad things have been in the team in recent years, with the goalkeeper being awarded so many times.
The disaster in the recent campaign was blamed, in some part, at the interim manager Ralf Rangnick, who took over last December to replace Solskjaer.
Rangnick was criticised by pundits and fans, and reportedly was mocked behind his back by players, but he had an instant impact in his new job.
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The German is now national team manager of Austria, and his new team beat Croatia 3-0 in the Nations League on Friday evening.
Topics: Manchester United, Premier League, Harry Maguire, Cristiano Ronaldo, David De Gea, Erik Ten Hag
Ryan Sidle