Rio Ferdinand believes that Bruno Fernandes should keep the Manchester United captaincy on a permanent basis next season in the wake of his recent run with the armband.
Fernandes, 28, has spent the majority of the campaign deputising in the role for Harry Maguire after the beleaguered £80million defender lost his first-team place in the early weeks of Erik ten Hag's tenure.
Although the Portuguese playmaker's leadership credentials have been heavily scrutinised in some quarters, Fernandes has once again underlined his status as one of Manchester United's most influential players this term - and Ferdinand believes that handing him the club captaincy on a permanent basis is a no-brainer.
Speaking after United's 1-0 win over Aston Villa at the weekend - where Fernandes plundered the winning goal - Ferdinand told his FIVE podcast: “We deserved to win the game. Did you see Bruno’s numbers? Wow. The guy - it’s remarkable what he is doing. If he was at Arsenal he’d probably have a statue now at the Emirates with the numbers he has done!
“Does Bruno take the captaincy next year? 100 per cent... I think he does. Since Bruno signed, he has been the most impactful player we have had. He’s wearing the armband while Maguire doesn’t play. I think it is a natural progression for him to be captain next season.”
While Fernandes' stock rose even higher in the wake of his spellbinding performance against Villa at the weekend, the long-term future of Maguire, who is still United's official club captain, remains unclear.
Despite impressing for England during the World Cup at the turn of the year, Maguire has fallen even further down the pecking order in recent months after Ten Hag decided to deploy Luke Shaw, a left-back by trade, as a left-sided centre-back.
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Even though Shaw has gone on to impress in that role, Ten Hag's decision to select Shaw there ahead of Maguire in the aftermath of the World Cup prompted Ferdinand to advise him that he simply 'has to leave' the club. Speaking back in January, Ferdinand said: “If you’re him you have to leave now. Luke Shaw’s playing centre-back instead of him.
“That’s like me going back after the World Cup, playing well, everyone saying ‘he’s done really well’, and [then] Patrice Evra is playing centre-back.
“I’d want to strangle Patrice! I would’ve smashed Patrice in training to make sure he’s not available, and I’d be going to the manager and saying, ‘Are you taking the p*** out of me, boss?’. I’d have walked straight into the manager’s office and said, ‘You’re disrespecting me’.
“Harry Maguire’s got to move. I think he stays because of the games and they can’t get someone else in. He plays in the cup games.”
