Manchester United only have ‘one player worthy’ of captaincy, claims former player

Bruno Fernandes has been the captain of Manchester United since the summer of 2023 when he took over from Harry Maguire under Erik ten Hag.

Much was made of the decision to strip Harry Maguire of his Manchester United captaincy and hand the armband to Bruno Fernandes, although it had been a decision in the making for a number of years.

Fernandes has just passed four years as a United player and has become the forefront leader under Erik ten Hag – so much so that with Maguire not playing often during the Dutchman’s first season at Old Trafford, Fernandes was acting captain more often than the central defender.

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Fernandes has shown his leadership at the club on many occasions, however, some feel that his actions occasionally fall sub-par of a club captain, such as during the 7-0 loss against Liverpool last campaign.

However, former United player and now famed commentator Alan Smith believes that within the squad, Fernandes is the only player who is worthy of being captain of the current squad.

“Fernandes will always take the ball in difficult situations, and yet people look at him as he’s not a captain in a certain way, he moans at people a lot – in his situation, he’s probably just as frustrated as anybody else, and wants the team to do better and push on,” Smith told BritishGambler.

“He always wants to take the ball, and that shows a certain type of person. When you look around the dressing room for who is going to play, he’s fit for nearly every single game. He drives the team forward.

“He might get frustrated and annoyed, but he probably just wants more for the team, and he’s trying to do so much that this is what happens. He gets frustrated in certain situations, but when you look around, he is the one player who should be captain.”