RALF RANGNICK had rubbished suggestions as ‘nonsense’ that he has held talks over sacking Harry Maguire as captain and giving the armband to Cristiano Ronaldo.
The Manchester United interim manager also insisted that the atmosphere within the dressing room described is anything but toxic.
Maguire took to social media to blast reports that he was being asked to step down to take some pressure off him.
The 28 year old who has been struggling for form said on Twitter: “I’ve seen a lot of reports about this club that aren’t true.
“Not going to start posting about everything that is written but I needed to make this one clear.
“We’re united and focused on Sunday.”
Rangnick backed him up to the hilt, saying : “It’s absolutely nonsense.
“I am the manager of this club and I have never spoken to any player about changing the captaincy.
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“I have not spoken to Harry, I have not spoken to Cristiano. They know that.
“This is not an issue and there is no reason to change.
“Harry is the captain and he will stay our captain until the end of the season.
“There is nothing more to say about this.”
The German also hit out over the story that he dressing room is split by cliques amidst a power struggle between skipper Maguire and CR7.
Asked if any such split left him frustrated, he declared: “I’m not frustrated at all because I know this is not the truth.
“I told you already about Harry being the captain.
“This is not an issue at all and it has never been an issue for us and for myself as the manager.
“All the other things, to be honest, I don’t listen to that noise because my job is to focus on preparing for the next game.”
Rangnick pointed to the departures of Donny van de Beek and Anthony Martial as reasons why things within United are more united than they have been for some time.
He stressed :“I had heard about what was written.
“I can only tell you from my personal experience over the last eleven, twelve weeks.
“Yes, there were player that were unhappy until the closure of the window because I always said the squad was too big.
“We had too many players who just realised they wouldn’t get game time – this is the truth, for sure.
“But what I can tell you is that the atmosphere in the locker room is better than it used to be a couple of weeks ago.”
As he looked forward to Sunday’s visit to Elland Road and a clash with Marcelo Bielsa’s Leeds United he added: “So now it is about performing well.
“Getting together on the pitch, getting the best out of our performance and winning games.
“This is our job. All the other things we have no influence on at all.”
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