Harry Maguire's time at Manchester United has been far from ideal. The central defender, who cost the Red Devils a reported hefty £80m has failed to live up to his price tag.
Brought in to replicate the transformation of Liverpool after welcoming £75m Virgil van Dijk, the England defender got off to a decent enough start at Old Trafford, before dropping off entirely in the last two seasons, losing his place under Erik ten Hag.
In truth, Maguire never seemed to fit the role as Manchester United captain. There was a stage, of course, where we saw him leading Cristiano Ronaldo, and that just felt wrong.
It is a role that the former Leicester City man won't have to worry about anymore, though, after being stripped of the captaincy by Ten Hag.
Harry Maguire stripped of Manchester United captaincy
Revealing the news, Maguire took to Twitter to release a statement, which read: "After discussions with the manager today he has informed me he is changing captain. He outlined his reasons to me and whilst I’m personally extremely disappointed, I will continue to give my all every time I wear the shirt.
"So I wanted to say a massive thank you to the Manchester United fans for all their brilliant support whilst I’ve been wearing the armband. Since the day I took on the role, three and half years ago, it’s been a huge privilege to lead Manchester United and one of the proudest moments of my career to date.
"It’s one of the greatest honours in club football. I’ve done everything I possibly could to help United be successful – on and off the field.
"I will always be grateful to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer for first giving me the responsibility and I wish whoever now takes it on every success and they will have my full support."
Why was Maguire stripped of captaincy?
It looks increasingly likely that the small part that Maguire played last season is set to get even smaller in the next campaign. The central defender's future may not even be at Old Trafford.
According to Simon Stone of BBC Sport, West Ham United are interested in signing the United flop this summer, as they look to spend the Declan Rice money wisely in the coming weeks.
With Euro 2024 coming up next summer, Maguire will know the importance of game-time when it comes to earning a place in Gareth Southgate's England side. As the likes of Levi Colwill emerge, too, the 30-year-old may be forced into a move to protect his Three Lions place this summer.
Signing Maguire for £80m, United will have to come to terms with the likelihood of suffering a significant loss on their initial investment, having seen the now-former captain endure a nightmare spell at Old Trafford.
A fresh start wouldn't exactly be a bad thing for both parties. Though, United would be conscious of the fact that losing Maguire would leave them with four first-team centre-backs in the form of Raphael Varane, Lisandro Martinez, Victor Lindelof, and Eric Bailly.
Having made this big call on the captaincy, it appears Ten Hag still has a big decision to make about whether or not to keep Maguire around.
