Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has explained why he chose Bruno Fernandes as the club's new captain ahead of the new season.
The Dutch coach made the decision to strip Harry Maguire of the captaincy last week, with the England international playing a more subdued role since Ten Hag took over.
Fernandes was the captain for most of the 2022/2023 campaign and the Red Devils manager explained he wanted his skipper on the pitch most of the time.
Read: OFFICIAL: Man Utd Announce New Captain
"A good team is always covering areas as leaders, team players, multi-functional players, specialists, individualists," Ten Hag told club media.
"But you need some leaders in the team, on the pitch, who are guiding the team, who are building the team, who are controlling the quality of the performance.
"And one has to wear the [arm]band and we chose, I chose, Bruno because he is a great inspiration. He is the example.
"He always wants to be a better football player, working very hard to give his maximum performance. So he is the mirror for many players and he is a good social connector.
"He is also very good at game understanding. So, for a manager, it's very good to have that intermediary on the pitch. So those are some reasons, but he can't do it alone.
"We need more help. We need more leaders to have a strong bond and who can point a team in the right direction."
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