New Jersey [US], July 23 : Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes claimed that English defender Harry Maguire was "happy" after he was asked to relinquish the captaincy by the head coach Erik Ten Hag.
The Portuguese midfielder Fernandes holds the experience of leading the club on the field after Harry Maguire lost his place to centre-back pair of Lisandro Martinez and Raphael Varane. Maguire went down the pecking order and failed to earn his place back into the squad. After being stripped of the captaincy, the experienced centre-back is inching closer towards a move away from Manchester according to various reports.
But before that happens, Fernades believes that he has the backing of the former skipper even though Maguire wasn't entirely happy with the decision.
"He gave me congratulations and he said he is really happy for me. I understand his position is not the best at the moment. It has to be difficult for him but he came and said congratulations to me and I am happy about that because we have always had a good relationship," Fernades told reporters as quoted by Goal.com.
The Portugal international further added that Ten Hag called a team meeting in order to reveal the captaincy call. "He spoke in front of the whole group. He wanted to do it in front of everyone. Everyone already knew about the situation with H [Maguire] but no one knew who would be the next captain so he did it in a team meeting with everyone together because it’s something we have to do more often, to keep the things inside and give the compliments inside to ourselves. Obviously, it’s a big honour and it’s something that I didn’t dream about. It’s over your dreams but it’s something for me and my family, because they have been with me all this time, and it’s a proud moment for everyone," he said.
Last week the 30-year-old took to Twitter to thank the fans for their support during his captaincy and ensure that he will continue to give his all for the club.
Manchester United will play their second game of the USA pre-season tour against Wrexham on Wednesday. Ten Hag's side will be keen to continue their winning streak as their first Premier League 2023/24 campaign gets closer.
The Reds will play their first game of the League against Wolverhampton Wanderers on August 15.
Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor