Ten Hag told dream approach to Man Utd captaincy dilemma, with ‘farcial’ option dismissed

Erik ten Hag should make one of his new Manchester United signings the captain this summer after last season’s dilemma, one pundit has claimed.

United faced a host of issues both on and off the pitch which factored into their worst points total in a Premier League season. The change in manager did not help, but even then Ralf Rangnick could not inspire the group.

Reports of dressing room cliques and disagreements surfaced, affecting the harmony of the squad. Rumours also surfaced that Cristiano Ronaldo’s return caused issues over the captaincy.

Harry Maguire kept the armband last season, but he came out to deny talk of a power battle with Ronaldo in the dressing room.

With both players still there next season, Danny Murphy has subsequently called on Ten Hag to bring in a brand new captain.

The pundit told talkSPORT: “I don’t think it should be set in stone, but I think in this particular occasion this is a very important decision from United moving forward and not one that should be taken lightly.

“I certainly don’t think he should be leaving that position to the players, I think what you could do is you could leave it as it is to give himself a bit of time to make the right decision.

“My feeling is sometimes the best thing to do for a new manager is to give the captaincy to a player he knows and trusts who he brings in.”

Donny van de Beek is one Man Utd player who Ten Hag has a strong rapport with. The Red Devils signed the midfielder from Ajax following his rise at the Eredivisie club after working with his fellow Dutchman.

Ten Hag gets Man Utd advice

However, Murphy claimed that making Van de Beek the captain would be “farcical” because “he’s not played enough”.

The pundit added: “But if you bring in a leader, you bring in someone and you go ‘you’re the captain as well’. You’re kind of together then.”

Indeed, bringing the United dressing room together is one of Ten Hag’s key tasks.

While he can make new signings to bolster his ranks, he will still have a host of players who were there under previous managers.

As such, new signings are key but they must be able to gel with the current squad.

Ten Hag is supposedly after a new centre-back, midfielder and striker as his top priorities.