Ralph Ranknick confirms extension of Harry Maguire as Manchester United captain

Amid reports of a power struggle with Cristiano Ronaldo in the dressing room, interim manager Ralph Rangnik confirmed on Friday that Harry Maguire would be Manchester United captain.

Amid reports of a power struggle with Cristiano Ronaldo in the dressing room, interim manager Ralph Rangnik confirmed on Friday that Harry Maguire would be Manchester United captain. Maguire's poor form has played a key role in United's struggles this season. Ronaldo's influence was said to have undermined the world's most valuable defender, but Maguire denied the claim, insisting that his status as Rancic captain had never been questioned. "This is utter nonsense. I have not spoken to any player about a possible change of captaincy," Rangnick told a pre-match press conference ahead of Sunday's trip to Leeds.

"It's never been a problem for me, it's just me deciding who the captain is, so there's no reason for anyone else to talk about it.

"Harry Maguire is our captain and he will be our captain until the end of the season."

In January 2020, five months after joining the club from Leicester for 80 million ($ 109 million), Maguire was appointed captain by then-manager Ole Gunner Solskare.

"I've seen a lot of news about this club, it's not true, it's another," Maguire posted on Twitter.

"I'm not going to start posting about everything that's written, but I need to clarify this. We'll focus on Sunday together."

United striker Marcus Rashford earlier this week dismissed talk of a dressing room split involving Ronaldo.

A 2-0 win over Brighton on Tuesday lifted United back to fourth place in the Premier League, enough to qualify for next season's Champions League.

But Arsenal, Tottenham, and the Wolves have a handful of games that can be seen moving above the Red Devils.

After returning to his second spell at United in August, Ronaldo voiced support for Maguire, but his support is said to have waned as the season progressed.

Both players are believed to have spoken to Ranknick about the possibility of Ronaldo taking over the captaincy, so Maguire can focus on improving his irregular form.

But England is understood to be worried about the possibility of losing the center-back captaincy permanently.

Although Maguire has made several top mistakes this season, Ronaldo has also suffered a significant decline in form.

There have been numerous reports that Ronaldo was not impressed by Ranknick's managerial style, with the striker stamping out the pitch and exchanging words with Germany after being replaced in a win at Brentford in January.

The 37-year-old played in six games without a goal and finally returned to the scoresheet against Brighton in midweek.

That win stopped the poor run of three consecutive games in which United took the lead in the first half.

He said earlier this week that United's confidence had been eroded by their recent lead-throwing habits, admitting that finishing fourth in the Premier League was the best they could expect now.