England international Harry Maguire has retained the captain’s armband at Manchester United despite the change in manager. Dutchman Erik Ten Hag has been saddled with the task ofgetting Manchester United back to the top of English football.

The captain’s armband at Manchester United has generated controversy in the past year mainly due to the poor form of Englishman Maguire. The former Hull City and Sheffield United centre back has been the Manchester United skipper since his first year at the club. He has come under intense criticism in his role as the Manchester United captain. Maguire won’t be losing the captain’s armband after he was confirmed by new manager Ten Hag for the new season.

Ten Hag has stuck with £80m player Maguire as the Manchester United captain ahead of the new season which resumes next month and the decision is already an unpopular one amongst a section of the fans. In his press conference ahead of the friendly match with Liverpool in Thailand, Ten Hag said Maguire is an established captain and he has already achieved a lot of success in the role.

Maguire didn’t enjoy the best of seasons at Manchester United last season and he was even dropped by interim manager Ralf Rangnick towards the end of the season. It has been rumoured that new manager Ten Hag wants to sign a new defender to put Maguire under more pressure to keep his place on the left side of the two centre back spots. Ajax Amsterdam star Lisandro Martinez is a target having worked with Ten Hag during his time at the Dutch club. Manchester United have already had several bids turned down for the player.

Despite the decision to retain Maguire as Manchester United skipper being unpopular amongst the fans, it has been backed by club legend Gary Neville. The ex-United right-back called on the fans to back the manager’s decision.