Rio Ferdinand dismisses Roy Keane’s calls to strip Bruno Fernandes of Man United captaincy and insists the last thing Erik ten Hag needs is another ‘massive decision’

• Rio Ferdinand believes Bruno Fernandes should remain Man United captain
• Former United skipper Roy Keane called for Fernandes to be stripped of the role
• Follow Mail Sport’s new Man United WhatsApp channel for all the breaking news

Rio Ferdinand believes Roy Keane is incorrect to call for Bruno Fernandes to be replaced as Manchester United captain and insisted the last thing the club needs is ‘another saga’.

Former United skipper, Keane, claimed Fernandes should be stripped of the club’s captaincy after producing another torrid outing in Sunday’s derby defeat at Old Trafford.

The Portuguese star was handed the club armband in the summer as manager Erik ten Hag took it off Harry Maguire, however, United have endured a difficult start to the new season and Fernandes’ leadership qualities have been questioned.

Fernandes is an emotional player and was booked in United’s weekend hammering as City exerted control over their close rivals, and Keane slammed the captaincy performance of the 29-year-old.

Keane explained after the game on Sky Sports: ‘The first thing I would do is take the captaincy off him. I know it’s a big decision but Fernandes is not captain material.

Bruno Fernandes’ role as Manchester United captain has come under increased scrutiny

Fernandes was given the captaincy by United manager Erik ten Hag in the summer

Rio Ferdinand dismissed calls to strip Fernandes of the Manchester United captaincy

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‘He’s a talented player, but what I saw today, he’s whingeing, he’s moaning, he’s throwing his arms up in the air constantly.

‘It really isn’t acceptable. When you’re talking about where do they make changes – board level, managers – I’d start with that because the manager is capable of doing that. 

‘Fernandes is a brilliant footballer but he’s the opposite to what you want in a captain,’ he said.

However, Keane’s former team-mate, Ferdinand, believes that would be a disastrous decision and suggested there is no suitable replacement for the captaincy.

Ferdinand believes Ten Hag has had to deal with multiple problems both on and off the field since becoming manager and is adamant another ‘massive decision’ isn’t needed.

Speaking on his FIVE YouTube show, Ferdinand said: ‘Who else is there? If there was somebody jumping off the page that you go, ‘Okay yeah he should actually go and get it,’ I would say, ‘Okay you can consider that,’ but throwing out comments like that…’

Ten Hag has entrusted Fernandes to be his on-pitch leader in matches for United

Former United captain Roy Keane has called for Fernandes to be stripped of the captaincy

‘The problem is, as well, that saying that is crazy. Because one of Erik ten Hag’s biggest problems has been the amount of sagas there’s been outside of the pitch.

‘We’ve had the [Mason] Greenwood situation, you’ve had [Jadon] Sancho, you’ve had Antony, now you want to create another one by taking the captaincy? Look at how that affected the team when Maguire went out of the team and he took the armband off him.

‘These are big decisions. The armband at a football club is a massive decision that makes news for all the wrong reasons and you want to bring another saga to the table? I don’t think it’s the right call at all.’

Ferdinand continued: ‘The lens on the club at the moment is so magnified, it’s so laser-focused on the football club for the wrong reasons. Why bring another saga to the table, I don’t think it helps the situation right now.’

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