Cristiano Ronaldo's feud with Harry Maguire has been bubbling under the surface dating back to when Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was in charge.
Mirror Sport revealed on Thursday how the Manchester United pair are currently embroiled in a power struggle over the club captaincy.
Ralf Rangnick is looking to relieve Maguire of the pressure he is under by taking the armband off him for the rest of the season.
The United boss hopes this will improve Maguire's form.
But the centre-half is reluctant to give it up out of fear that he could lose it permanently.
There is a growing belief within the Old Trafford dressing-room that Ronaldo will replace Maguire as skipper, however, with the Portugal star taking on a more authoritative role.
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Rangnick has asked Ronaldo to mentor the younger players within the squad, which has the England defender feeling undermined by the 37-year-old's major influence at the club.
Maguire thinks some of the players are losing respect for him as his control within the changing room has diminished.
Ronaldo has positioned himself as the one setting the example for Jadon Sancho, Scott McTominay and Marcus Rashford, but this has been seen as a threat to Maguire's captaincy.
This has left the young core in a tricky situation as some feel they should remain loyal to their skipper, despite Ronaldo's presence within the dressing room.
Ronaldo has previously backed Maguire as captain, urging United's players to get behind him, but that vocal support is said to have lessened in recent weeks.
A United source said: "Originally, Ronaldo was asking players to back Harry. But the problem is the manager now wants Ronaldo to mentor all these younger players.
"That's left Harry in no man's land, as he's the captain and having to say and follow whatever Ronaldo says, to keep everything sweet."
The feud between Ronaldo and Maguire comes as no surprise as the players have been calling for the former to take on a leadership role since the start of the season.
It all came to a head during United's 3-2 win over Atalanta in the Champions League back in October as Ronaldo's stoppage-time winner secured a dramatic comeback victory.
The Red Devils were losing 2-0 at halftime after a lacklustre first-half display prompting Ronaldo to intervene in Solskjaer's team talk.
Ronaldo made it clear to his teammates that the first half showing was not up to the required standard as he tried to motivate his side ahead of the second period.
It's claimed the forward asked his teammates 'Are you not ashamed?' before they went back out for the second half.
In the wake of Ronaldo's actions, Man Utd players asked him to take up a 'bigger role' in the dressing room to strengthen the relationships between the players and the coaching staff.
But the former Real Madrid star was happy for Maguire, who as captain is typically the authoritative voice in the changing room, to continue being the central mouthpiece.
The noise has only grown louder since this incident as Maguire's poor form continues while United's problems on and off the pitch persist under Rangnick.
Ronaldo's stance has evidently changed too as the situation has become too big to ignore, especially with Rangnick's request to support the younger players at the club.
Rashford has disputed claims of a dressing-room divide, however.
He said on Twitter: "Are we just making it up as we go along now then? Please stop looking for divides."
