Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has insisted that Harry Maguire still has a place in his first-team plans despite stripping him of the captain's armband.
The Red Devils stood the centre-back down as skipper on Sunday following a season in which he was displaced from the starting lineup by Lisandro Martinez.
Ten Hag opted to replace Maguire as captain with Bruno Fernandes, explaining that the Portugal midfielder is one of his hardest workers and a great communicator.
Speaking at a press conference on Friday before this weekend's pre-season friendly against Arsenal, Ten Hag was asked about his decision to take the armband away from Maguire.
"Everyone can understand it is disappointing for a player, but it can actually work out well for the team and for Harry," Ten Hag said.
"He stays an important player. He can fight himself into the team. He has potential and it's up to him to get his position.
"Now he can focus more on his role, but a centre-back has to communicate and organise. It's a big area where you have to perform as a centre-half."
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Though Ten Hag is publicly insisting that Maguire has a place in his squad, 90min understands the Dutchman has informed the defender he can leave the club.
Ten Hag has also been known to stand by players with major profiles in his press conferences while quietly beginning the process of phasing them out, with Cristiano Ronaldo and David de Gea both backed continually before leaving the club for free.
The Manchester Evening News also report that Maguire is not part of United's new six-player leadership group, which instead includes Fernandes, Casemiro, Luke Shaw, Marcus Rashford, Raphael Varane and Tom Heaton.
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This article was originally published on 90min as Erik ten Hag discusses Harry Maguire's Man Utd future after losing captaincy.
