MANCHESTER: Harry Maguire will be more functional after being dropped from the captaincy, said Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag.
Ten Hag decided to hand the captaincy to Bruno Fernandes and informed Maguire about it when the England defender reported for pre-season training.
The decision makes Maguire’s position even more difficult, who is now falling out of United’s list of centre-backs.
United are also willing to listen to offers for Maguire this summer but are not desperate to let him go.
The Ten Hag believes Maguire will return to focus on his game when unburdened by the captaincy, and the Dutch manager challenged his former captain to compete with Raphael Varane, Lisandro Martinez and Victor Lindelof for a place in the starting line-up.
“He is an important player. We need a minimum of four centre-backs. All last season we had a lot of games and we are happy to have Harry in the squad.
“We need more than 11 players. We want competition and he has to earn his place in the team.
“He has potential and it’s up to him to get the position. Now we can focus more on his role,” said Ten Hag.