Harry Maguire has been named club captain by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, with news of Ashley Young’s move to Inter Milan. Maguire wore the captain’s armband in Sunday’s Premier League loss to Liverpool at Anfield, and has worn it on several other occasions for clubs and country, but it appears he is now the permanent captain after just a few months at Old Trafford.
Solskjaer told reporters that Maguire had been making his presence as a leader known since his arrival: “He’s been a leader in the group,” Solskjaer said. “I’ve been, not surprised, but impressed by his leadership skills, so he will continue wearing the armband.
“He’s part of a group that we’ve had that have been leading this young group, Ashley has been, David [De Gea], Marcus [Rashford], Harry – so Harry will keep on wearing the armband.”
The decision comes after the departure of former captain Ashley Young for Inter Milan. A somewhat surprising move to make mid-way through the season, the winger-turned-full-back lost his starting spot to summer signing Aaron Wan-Bissaka and decided the best move for his career would be a move away from Old Trafford after almost 9 years at the club.
“Ashley has been a good servant for the club, he’s been captain, he’s won trophies, the league, various cups,” Solskjaer said of Young’s United career, “but we’ve got players coming through and when Ashley’s head and mindset was, ‘I want to try this’, why not do it now?”
Young leaves at a time when Manchester United’s squad is already thin from injuries and have failed to replace several summer exits. He’s far from the player he used to be, however, and is the latest exit in Solskjaer’s rebuilding project.