Manchester United manager Ralf Rangnick says rumours of him stripping Harry Maguire of the club captaincy and handing it to Cristiano Ronaldo are completely untrue.
Asked at the pre-match press conference ahead of Sunday’s Premier League away game at Leeds whether there was any truth to the reports, the boss said: ‘this is absolutely nonsense.’
‘I have never spoken with any player about a possible change of captaincy and Harry is fully aware of that and so is Cristiano and all the other players.
‘This has never been an issue, it’s me who decides who is our captain, there is no need to speak to anyone else.
‘Harry is our captain and will stay our captain until the end of the season and there is nothing else to add on to that.’
Earlier today Maguire himself took to social media to rubbish the reports. The manager was asked if he was frustrated by the constant narrative on social media.
‘I don’t listen to that noise that much. I can only tell you of my personal experience in the last 12 weeks,’ he said.
‘Yes, there were players who were unhappy until the closure of the window because as I always said, the squad was too big and players knew they would not get to play that much.
‘And from what I can tell you the atmosphere in the dressing room is better [now], definitely better than it used to be a couple of weeks ago for the reasons we just talked about.’
Rangnick also gave an injury update, which included another setback for a key player and a return for another.
‘As it seems, Edinson Cavani will still be out,’ he said.
‘He’s still having some problems with his groin and on the other hand also some problems with his stomach, the same is true with Tom Heaton.’
‘Apart from that, everyone else seems to be available.
‘Nemanja Matic took part in training today and looked quite well.
‘He may be available even for Sunday against Leeds, and definitely for the next two games.’