Football pundit and former England international, Danny Murphy, believes Marcus Rashford should be next in line to receive Manchester United captaincy.
Since returning from the FIFA 2022 World Cup in Qatar, Rashford, 25 has been in fine form. Currently, the Manchester United forward has 14 Premier League goals under his belt.
He’s also scored five Europa League and Carabao Cup goals, including breaking the net against Real Betis, and a single FA Cup goal and nine assists in all competitions to add to his list of accolades.
With Harry Maguire rarely starting for Manchester United and calls for Bruno Fernandes to be stripped of the captaincy - it seems there’s no time like the present for Rashford to step up. Or so former Liverpool star Murphy, thinks.
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As per his column in the Daily Mail, Murphy believes that “Rashford would be an ideal for United, considering where they are at the moment in Erik ten Hag's team development.”
In the column, he expressed that Rashford has the chance to become, “an excellent communicator on behalf of the club.”
He continued to say that the striker is, “confident in front of the microphone and camera” and has “become an elite forward and is clearly enjoying his football.”
However, Murphy also acknowledges that it’s unlikely that Rashford will be freely handed the armband.
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He believes that Fernandes, “enjoyed being asked to stand in for Maguire,” but holds firm in the idea that “Ten Hag will do what is best for the club, and has already shown he’s an excellent man manager.”
Murphy concludes his statement, saying that, “the best-case scenario for ten Hag would be for Rashford to commit to his long-term future and run out at Old Trafford in August as Manchester United’s new captain.”
However, earlier this month ten Hag dismissed the idea that he would be stripping Fernandes of the captain’s armband.
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Following Manchester United’s 7-0 defeat away to Liverpool, the head coach was asked by the press if he will continue to support Fernandes as a skipper.
“Yes, definitely,” he replied. “I think [Fernandes] is having a brilliant season.”
“He is a really important reasons why we are in the position we are because he is giving energy to the team,” he continued.
“He is not only running a lot and in the highest intensity, but also in the right way, in the right direction and he is pointing and coaching players.”
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So, it may be a while until we see Rashford walking out at Old Trafford as skipper.
By Ella Scott
Featured Image Credit: AlamyTopics: Football, Premier League, Manchester United, Marcus Rashford