Cristiano Ronaldo Should Be Man United Captain, Says Ex-Teammate Of Harry Maguire

One of Harry Maguire's former teammates has suggested that he is out of his depth as Manchester United captain and should be replaced by Cristiano Ronaldo.

One of Harry Maguire's former teammates has suggested that the center-back is out of his depth as Manchester United captain.

Ahmed Elmohamady played alongside Maguire at Hull City in three seasons between 2014 and 2017 - although the Englishman spent half of one of those campaigns out on loan at Wigan.

Maguire left Hull to join Leicester in 2017 before Man United made him soccer's most expensive defender ever two years later.

An £80m transfer fee has meant that Maguire's performances have continuously been under scrutiny ever since.

To add even more pressure, Maguire was made United's club captain within six months of his arrival, after Ashley Young was sold to Inter Milan.

Former Egypt international Elmohamady does not believe Maguire has the mentality to captain United.

Elmohamady reckons Cristiano Ronaldo could be the man for the job instead.

Harry Maguire (left) and Ahmed Elmohamady (wearing hat) pictured celebrating Hull City's promotion to the Premier League in 2016 :: IMAGO/Sportimage/Phillip Oldham

"Harry was with me in Hull City and, in my opinion, he doesn't have the level to be the Manchester United captain," Elmohamady told beIN Sports.

"Man United need a player with a strong personality and I hope that the next manager will give the captaincy to Ronaldo if he stays.

"Ronaldo can handle this responsibility and pressure; however, Maguire can't handle this pressure.

"So I think that the pressure he has by wearing the captain's armband is affecting his performances."

After questioning Maguire's suitability to be United's skipper, Elmohamady went on to suggest that the 29-year-old should not even be playing for a club of their size.

He added: "Maguire performed really well with Leicester, a team that competes to be in the top six of the Premier League and maybe this is his level.

"He doesn't have the level to play for the biggest team in the history of England."

United interim manager Ralf Rangnick has said multiple times that he would like Ronaldo to use his status as one of the game's greatest ever players to help inspire his teammates.

Ronaldo scored a hat-trick in Saturday's 3-2 win over Tottenham to become officially recognized by FIFA as the highest-scoring man in professional soccer.

Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates the goal which saw him become the all-time top scorer in men's professional soccer :: IMAGO/ Sportimage/Andrew Yates

After that game, Rangnick praised Ronaldo but also admitted that he can be challenging to manage.

"Today it was his best performance, at least since I arrived," said Rangnick, as reported by The Athletic. "He was good in training on Thursday and that is why I decided to start him. Fantastic performance by him but also by the rest of the team.

"He can (get 70,000 people off their feet), but again he can also do it only with the team. A fantastic performance. It was not just the three goals today it was also he was part of the team when they were in possession of the ball.

"It was probably our best performance bearing in mind the quality of the opponents. It was necessary, we had to win the game and it will give us a boost for our next game.

"It's a challenge with a player like Ronaldo but he showed today that he still has the quality to play for a club like Manchester United.

"He also has the quality to be part of the team, and if we want to be successful at the end of the season that’s what we need."