The gaffer has rubbished claims he could be about to replace Maguire with Ronaldo as the club’s new captain.
Manchester United interim manager Ralf Rangnick has branded claims he may drop Harry Maguire as captain as ‘nonsense’.
A report from The Mirror has alleged there is a growing belief within the Old Trafford dressing-room that Cristiano Ronaldo will replace Maguire as captain, describing the change as ‘inevitable’.
Maguire took to social media on Friday morning to dismiss this report, and now Rangnick has confirmed the defender will continue as the skipper.
“Well, to start with, I must say that this is absolutely nonsense,” the German told reporters in a press conference on Friday afternoon.
“I have never spoken with any player about a possible change of captaincy. Harry is fully aware of that and so is Cristiano and all the other players.
“So this has never been an issue for me. It is me who decides the captain and therefore there is no reason to speak about that with any other person.
“Harry is our captain and will stay our captain until the end of the season and there is nothing else to add on to that.”
🗣 "This is absolutely nonsense. Harry Maguire is our captain and he will stay our captain until the end of the season."
Ralf Rangnick dismisses any talks of changing the club captain at Manchester United pic.twitter.com/yC4BrQFUTL
— Football Daily (@footballdaily) February 18, 2022
‘The atmosphere in the locker room is better’
Rangnick also dispelled rumors over issues inside the dressing room, stating the atmosphere has improved in recent weeks.
“I can only tell you from my personal experience in the last 11-12 weeks, yes, there were players unhappy until the closure of the [January transfer] window because, as I always said, the squad was too big,” the 63-year-old said.
“We had too many players who just realized that they wouldn’t get game time. I think this has improved, for sure, and, from what I can tell you, the atmosphere in the locker room is better than it used to be a couple of weeks ago, for that reasons we just spoke about and, well, all the other things.”
Manchester United next take a trip to Elland Road on Sunday to face old foes Leeds in the Premier League.
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