Erik ten Hag has been urged to strip the Manchester United captaincy from Harry Maguire and hand it to Bruno Fernandes to end an “embarrassing” situation.
The defender has started just two of the five matches since the World Cup, having begun just six matches all season. He was benched for Friday's 3-1 FA Cup win over Everton as Luke Shaw made his third start at centre-back alongside Raphael Varane.
Maguire did eventually come on for the final seven minutes and could play from the beginning in Tuesday’s League Cup quarter-final with Charlton. However, he has lost his place in Ten Hag’s preferred starting XI with World Cup winner Lisandro Martinez the preferred partner for Varane.
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Some have suggested the 29-year-old may have to look for a new club in the summer if he wants sustained game time. However, ex-United defender Paul Parker believes he would prefer to stay a bit-part player at United rather than make a “step down” elsewhere.
Ten Hag announced in pre-season that Maguire would stay on as skipper, but amid reduced game time, Parker called on Ten Hag to take the captaincy off Maguire and give it to regular mainstay Fernandes.
Speaking to MyBettingSites, he said: “Honestly, the situation with Harry Maguire is embarrassing now. The way he is taking away the armband from Bruno Fernandes is miserable.
“He should never do that and Erik ten Hag needs to take the decision now to take away the armband from Maguire for good.” He added: “I’m not sure that he will find a new club in January.
“It will be very tough for a sporting director to convince the fans that he is a good signing at any club. Maybe he could go out on loan but then it will be a small team from the bottom of the league.
“He can’t play for a top side like Man City, Liverpool or Newcastle because they are defending with a high line. He needs to play for a team that defends with a low block because he is too nervous and too slow to play for a big club.
“But I think he is quite happy at Man United and most likely he will settle and enjoy his time on the bench because he knows that any other club would be a step down from Man United.”
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