Bruno Fernandes has taken over as Manchester United captain ahead of the 2023-24 season, but Marcus Rashford is once believed to be in contention for the armband.
Marcus Rashford is reportedly one of two Manchester United players who turned down the captaincy offer from former boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
Solskjaer lost his job at the start of the 2021–22 season and has yet to fill another managerial role. The Norwegian has confirmed he is to begin the role as a UEFA technical observer almost two years after taking charge of his last United game, and recently opened up about his time in the dugout at Old Trafford.
Rashford has hinted he will replace Bruno Fernandes as captain after the Portuguese international was handed the armband by current boss Eric ten Hag during the summer. However, according to latest reports, the academy graduate has said ‘no’ in the past.
“I won’t name names, but I was very disappointed when a couple turned down the chance to be captain,” Solskjaer told The Athletic. “I was also disappointed when others said they wouldn’t play or train because they wanted to force their way out.”
According to The Sun, Rashford was reluctant to take up the armband. It is said that he did not consider himself ready for this honour.
Despite links with Paris Saint-Germain, Rashford remained at United and flourished in Eric ten Hag’s first season in charge, scoring a career-best 30 goals in all competitions.
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Solskjaer handed the armband to Harry Maguire in January 2020 after previous captain Ashley Young left for Inter. Despite losing his starting place, the England centre-back remains captain until the end of the 2022–23 season, but made way for Fernandes ahead of the current season.
Rashford was also asked about captaining the team during an appearance on The Overlap. “I don’t think about it actively but I think if the opportunity came, I would step in,” he told former United captain Gary Neville in an interview released in July.
Fernandes has come in for some criticism since taking up the armband, but the midfielder performed well against Burnley on Saturday. His strike was the only goal of the game at Turf Moor, helping United bounce back from three defeats on the spin.
One of the stand-out kits of the new season, the base color of the Adidas shirt is green with white stripes and maroon lines, ensuring one of the most eye-catching shirts in the game for United’s 2023/2024 campaign Will happen.
The win at Burnley takes Ten Hague’s side to nine points from six games, although they are still nine points behind Manchester City after the reigning champions maintained their perfect record by beating Nottingham Forest.
United’s next league game on Saturday sees them host Roy Hodgson’s Crystal Palace side. The match is a carbon copy of the midweek EFL Cup third round match, although both managers may choose to rotate their teams for the cup tie.
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