Revealed: Ronaldo Asked To REPLACE Harry Maguire As Man Utd Captain

Cristiano Ronaldo reportedly asked to replace Harry Maguire as Manchester United captain last season.

The Portuguese player ultimately canceled his contract with Manchester United in November 2022 after criticizing the organization’s leadership and manager Erik ten Hag in a television interview with Piers Morgan. Ronaldo also questioned Ralf Rangnick’s qualifications, who served as United’s interim manager prior to Ten Hag’s appointment last summer.

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According to ESPN, in the second half of the 2021–22 season, Ronaldo requested Rangnick award him the captain’s armband ahead of Maguire, but the German coach refused to bow to his wishes.

Maguire has faced plenty of criticism since joining United from Leicester City in a record-breaking £80 million deal in 2019. He was made captain by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer six months after making his debut, but has struggled to cope with the demands of the role.

He was also advised to stay off social media after being ridiculed for posting apology messages during the club’s poor run last season.

Maguire remains the club captain, but Ten Hag has moved Raphael Varane above of him in the hierarchy of the team. In the center of his defense, the United manager prefers to pair a right-footed and a left-footed defender, with summer signing Lisandro Martinez playing alongside Varane.

According to the ESPN article, Maguire’s propensity for rushing out of position to win tackles and his inability to cover ground have the United coaching staff worried. Nonetheless, they are happy with his ball handling abilities, thus he will continue to wear the armband at least until the end of the season.

The centre-back will be hoping that Ten Hag will give him an opportunity to feature against Newcastle United on Saturday. Ronaldo, meanwhile, will be back in action with Al-Nassr on Tuesday against Al-Adalah in the Saudi Pro League.