Manchester United skipper Harry Maguire says the squad are ‘united and focused’ after hitting back at claims Cristiano Ronaldo is set to inherit the armband at the club.
The Mirror claimed on Thursday that Ronaldo and Maguire were embroiled in a ‘power struggle’ at the club, with Ronaldo the greater presence in the United dressing room despite Maguire being the captain.
It was claimed that Maguire felt marginalised by fractions within the dressing room and that Ralf Rangnick had discussed relinquishing the captain’s armband with him, so that Ronaldo could replace him.
But, taking to Twitter on friday, Maguire dismissed the reports as false and says the Red devils squad are together.
‘I’ve seen a lot of reports about this club that aren’t true and this is another,’ said Maguire, who quote tweeted the original article.
‘Not going to start posting about everything that is written but I needed to make this one clear. ‘We are united and focused on Sunday. Enjoy your day everyone.’
Maguire was named as United captain just half-a-season into his time at the club, with the defender replacing Ashley Young as skipper after his move to Inter Milan in January 2020.
The England international’s form has collapsed this campaign, which together with the arrivals of Ronaldo and Raphael Varane, has increased the pressure on his position more.
Also, Marcus Rashford publicly dismissed reports earlier this week that cliques had developed in the club’s dressing room.
The report from Germany claimed England players such as Maguire and Rashford were furious with Ronaldo’s level of influence at United and they felt the 36-year-old wanted to run things in his own way.
But Rashford fired back at those claims, accusing the journalist of ‘making it up’.
‘Are we just making it up as we go along now then?’ said Rashford. ‘Please stop looking for divides.’
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