Ever since Cristiano Ronaldo rejoined Man United last summer, allegations of dividing the dressing room have been levelled against him.
While almost everyone ignored these claims earlier, at least two footballers, including Marcus Rashford, have taken a dig at the media for the reports in the last three days.
Harry Maguire has denied reports of an alleged rift with five-time Ballon d’Or winner Cristiano Ronaldo after the British media claimed that the two players were at loggerheads with each other over the issue of Manchester United’s captaincy.
“I’ve seen a lot of reports about this club that aren’t true and this is another. 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. Enjoy your day everyone,” the England defender wrote on Twitter.
Minutes after taking aim at the press for their false reports, Maguire joined Ronaldo at the club’s training ground in Carrington, where the duo was seen practicing with other members of the squad.
Earlier, The Mirror declared that Maguire and CR7 were locked in a power struggle. The newspaper insisted that the 28-year-old footballer was reluctant to hand over the skipper’s armband to the former Juventus frontman because he didn’t wish to lose it permanently.
The media outlet went as far as to say that the club’s interim boss Ralf Rangnick was on board with Ronaldo’s appointment as captain for the rest of the season.
The German believes that the Euro champion could motivate his players with the wealth of experience he has had as one of the all-time greats of the game.
On the other hand, Maguire has struggled for form in recent days, with Rangnick benching him in successive matches of late.
While he may have not included the centre-back in his starting XI recently, the United boss laughed at reports that the captaincy was an issue at the iconic club.
“I have never spoken with any player about a possible change of captaincy,” Rangnick said on Friday. “This has never been an issue for me. It’s me to decide who’s captain. Harry is our captain and will stay our captain until the end of the season and there is nothing else to that,” he added.
The Red Devils take on Leeds United on Sunday in what would be a must-win game for them to stay in contention for a spot in next season’s Champions League.
