Romano confirms Man Utd captain as Maguire replaced

Robin Bairner

• Updated: 20 Jul 2023 13:29 BST
• 3 min read

Manchester United captain for the 2023/24 season will be Bruno Fernandes, according to Fabrizio Romano.

Fernandes often wore the armband during the previous campaign but gave up the honour on the rare occasions Harry Maguire was on the field, with the Englishman having been declared Erik ten Hag’s first captain at Old Trafford.

Maguire has since fallen down the pecking order rapidly with the Red Devils and it came as no surprise when he was stripped of the honour this summer. Indeed, it is widely believed that the world’s most expensive defender of all-time will depart Man Utd, with the likes of West Ham and Everton credited with an interest.

Similarly, it is no surprise that Bruno will take over the mantle of leading the side, having done so with distinction last term, jointly lifting the League Cup with Maguire in the process.

Bruno Fernandes to captain Man Utd during 2023/24

Romano simply tweeted: “Bruno Fernandes will be new Man Utd captain.”

Ten Hag took a great deal of heat last summer after announcing that Maguire would stay on as the captain.

Speaking in July 2022, he reasoned: “Harry Maguire will be captain. I have to get to know all the players, but he’s an established captain and he’s achieved a lot of success.”

This led to fury from a section of the Man Utd support, with some even calling for Ten Hag to be sacked before the season had even started.

He quickly altered his stance, though, and by the end of August indicated that simply because Maguire was his captain, it didn’t guarantee him game time. Ten Hag was true to his word, with Maguire falling to fifth-choice centre-back by the end of the season.

Bruno Fernandes’ appointment as captain this time around is likely to be welcomed in a far warmer fashion by the Man Utd support.