Harry Maguire has no intention of giving up the Manchester United captaincy, insisting all professional footballers have "difficulties" during the course of their careers.
United boss Erik ten Hag has confirmed Maguire, 29, will retain the armband this coming term after weeks of speculation. Some fans have called for the England international to be stripped the captaincy following a series of poor performances last season.
Maguire was part of a United defence that conceded 57 Premier League goals, four more than relegated Burnley. They finished sixth in the table - recording their lowest points tally (58) in 32 years - and face a gruelling Europa League campaign over the coming months.
Maguire accepts last season's performances were not good enough but won't step down from his prestigious position. "Listen, last year was disappointing," the defender told reporters. "As an individual I didn’t play well and as team we certainly didn’t play well.
"But a good career can last 10 to 15 years and you’re never going to have every year where it’s plain sailing and you don’t have any difficulties.
"You’re going to have to fight, you’re going to have setbacks and last year was certainly a setback for myself on my career path. But it’s behind us now and we look forward to the future and getting this club back to winning trophies, which is what it’s all about."
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Confirming his skipper earlier this month, Ten Hag said: "Harry Maguire is the captain. He's an established captain, he's achieved a lot of success, so I don't doubt this issue."
In response, Old Trafford legend Gary Neville said: "So the same United fans fuming with me for applauding the decision to keep Maguire as captain seem to be without knowing criticising the new manager for his decision. Maybe support Maguire and stop bullying him on here! The new manager obviously likes him."
Maguire joined United from Leicester for £80million three years ago, playing 144 games to date. Despite impressing during his first two seasons at the club, Maguire can't be guaranteed of his place in the team, according to Liverpool legend Mark Lawrenson.
"Club captain used to mean that you were captain of the club, not necessarily team captain," Lawrenson told Paddy Power. "Harry Maguire is a good player, but like a lot of them last year, he had a really poor season. His problem is that he’s a good footballer, but he is just a bit slow - you can't really make yourself any faster, unfortunately!
"I don't know whether it'll be him leading the team every week. In all honesty, I would watch this space... Ten Hag is obviously still buying players. You can understand what he's doing - he's buying players that he knows, and also players that good in the dressing room. Last year, United's dressing room was all over the place.
"There were players there that knew they were leaving at the end of the season. They knew also that the interim manager [Ralf Rangnick] was leaving, and it was just a complete mess."
