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Maguire stripped of Man Utd captaincy

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Harry Maguire says he has been stripped of the Manchester United captaincy by manager Erik ten Hag.

Reports from earlier this month said that Ten Hag was going to get rid of the Englishman because Maguire didn’t play much for the Dutch team last year.

There was talk about the central defender’s future with the English giants because he only played in eight Premier League games.

But what is now certain is he will no longer be the skipper at Old Trafford, with Maguire writing on Twitter: “After discussions with the manager today he has informed me he is changing captain.

“He outlined his reasons to me and whilst I’m personally extremely disappointed, I will continue to give my all every time I wear the shirt.”

The 30-year-old added: “So I wanted to say a massive thank you to the Manchester United fans for all their brilliant support whilst I’ve been wearing the armband.

“Since the day I took on the role, three-and-a-half years ago, it’s been a huge privilege to lead Manchester United and one of the proudest moments of my career to date.

“It’s one of the greatest honours in club football. I’ve done everything I possibly could to help United be successful — on and off the field.

“I will always be grateful to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer for first giving me the responsibility and I wish whoever now takes it on every success and they will have my full support.”

Bruno Fernandes was named captain most of the time when Harry Maguire wasn’t playing last season, and the Portugal midfielder is the favourite to get the job full-time.

Maguire has played more than 170 times for United since he was bought for £80 million ($105 million, 93 million euros) from Leicester in 2019.

But over the past two seasons, Maguire has been the punchline of jokes on social media because of some big mistakes he made while playing for United. However, he has stayed a regular for England under manager Gareth Southgate.

Last season, the arrival of Lisandro Martinez from Argentina limited Maguire’s chances of making the first team at Old Trafford. Recently, he has been linked with a move to Premier League rivals West Ham.