Harry Maguire has denied suggestions that he is embroiled in a power struggle with team-mate Cristiano Ronaldo over who should be Manchester United's captain.
England international Maguire was named United's regular skipper by former boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer after Ashley Young departed for Inter in January 2020.
However, according to a report by The Mirror on Thursday, interim United boss Ralf Rangnick has asked Maguire to consider relinquishing the armband to Ronaldo.
That is said to have made Maguire feel increasingly undermined by Ronaldo, who has had a big influence in the dressing room since returning to the club last year.
But the centre-back, who has struggled for form as of late, has rubbished those claims ahead of United's clash with Leeds United this weekend.
"I've seen a lot of reports about this club that aren't true and this is another," Maguire posted on his official Twitter account.
"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 @ManUtd."
Maguire is the second United player to hit out at media reports relating to Ronaldo this week.
On Wednesday, Marcus Rashford denied that United's English played have formed a "clique" in opposition to the Portugal international's dressing room influence.
Ronaldo ended a six-match goalless run by putting United ahead in Tuesday's morale-boosting 2-0 win over Brighton and Hove Albion.
That came amid speculation that Ronaldo will look to leave Old Trafford at the end of the campaign.
The five-time Ballon d'Or winner himself used social media to respond to his critics after the defeat of Brighton, which snapped a three-game winless run for United in all competitions.
"Back on track," Ronaldo posted. "Nobody gives up and there's only one way to get back on track: hard work, team work, serious work. Everything else is just noise."
With his strike against Brighton, Ronaldo has now scored against 168 different opponents for club and country as he scored for the 21st calendar year running.
He found the back of the net from one of a game-high five shots against Brighton, while the three chances he created are the most he has managed in the league this term.
Malacia makes Man Utd comeback after 17 months out
Tyrell Malacia made his injury comeback after a 17-month spell on the sidelines, returning for Manchester United Under-21s against Huddersfield in the EFL Trophy on Tuesday.
The Netherlands international has not played since coming off the bench for his country against Croatia in the Nations League semi-final in June 2023.
Since that game, Malacia has had knee surgery twice in an attempt to solve an injury that had proved difficult to manage.
The 25-year-old made 39 appearances in all competitions for United after signing in the 2022-23 season, but has not featured for the first team since.
He played for 45 minutes in Huddersfield and was taken off at half-time, although it was a quiet night for him and he rarely got on the ball.
Malacia's return to competitive action coincided with the day that new head coach Ruben Amorim met some of United's senior players at the training ground.
Luke Shaw, Mason Mount, Leny Yoro, Kobbie Mainoo and Toby Collyer were all among the players he saw while doing their individual injury rehab.
Malacia makes injury comeback for Under-21s after 17 months out
Tyrell Malacia made his injury comeback after a 17-month spell on the sidelines, returning for Manchester United Under-21s against Huddersfield in the EFL Trophy on Tuesday.
The Netherlands international has not played since coming off the bench for his country against Croatia in the Nations League semi-final in June 2023.
Since that game, Malacia has had knee surgery twice in an attempt to solve an injury that had proved difficult to manage.
The 25-year-old made 39 appearances in all competitions for United after signing in the 2022-23 season, but has not featured for the first team since.
He played for 45 minutes in Huddersfield and was taken off at half-time, although it was a quiet night for him and he rarely got on the ball.
Malacia's return to competitive action coincided with the day that new head coach Ruben Amorim met some of United's senior players at the training ground.
Luke Shaw, Mason Mount, Leny Yoro, Kobbie Mainoo and Toby Collyer were all among the players he saw while doing their individual injury rehab.
Taylor pleased with City's physical test during Hammarby win
Manchester City head coach Gareth Taylor was pleased with how his team stood up to the physical challenge of Hammarby in their 2-0 Champions League victory on Tuesday.
City's win extended their unbeaten start to the season, having won every game in all competitions following a 2-2 draw against Arsenal on opening day.
“Difficult game for us, physical challenge, a physical team in Hammarby. I think they outnumber us a little bit in terms of size, considering when you look at our midfield. But I thought the girls handled it really well," Taylor said after the game
“I thought we dominated the game. In the early parts we were just a little bit off in our final action. We just needed to speed up a little bit in terms of being on the end of it, and we spoke about that at half-time, and we score with Laura getting into that type of position we’d been talking about.
“[The physicality was something] we were prepared for, but dealing with it is a different thing. Having Bunny [Khadija Shaw] and Alanna [Kennedy] on the pitch, two of our more physical players, is really important, particularly for set-plays.
“At 1-0 we were defending a couple of scenarios like that, Yama [Ayaka Yamashita] making a really good save at one point. Then Aoba [Fujino] got the goal that maybe allowed us to change things up a little bit more, get some people off that we’d like to manage.
“I think the girls have dealt with it really well tonight. We expected it, we thought it would be difficult, and they rose to the challenge.”
The victory leaves City top of their Champions League group with a 100% record after three matches, three points above second-placed Barcelona.
Taylor had made changes to City's starting XI, with Lauren Hemp among the trio to drop out from the weekend and she did not feature in the squad. Ahead of their weekend game against Chelsea, who are second in the WSL, Taylor explained the reasoning behind Hemp's absence.
“We’ve just got an issue with Lauren that we just need to analyse a little bit further, that’s all," he said.
“It’s something that potentially happened in the Palace game [on 3 November]. She was able to play in the Tottenham game [last Friday] but wasn’t able to tonight, so we’ll just take a little bit longer to assess and find out more.
“Hopefully [she can play against Chelsea]. There’s an opportunity there, we’ll just have to take a moment tomorrow, have a good conversation and find out where we’re at with the medical staff.”
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