Ralf Rangnick says reports Cristiano Ronaldo may take the captain’s armband from Harry Maguire are ‘absolute nonsense’

Manchester United manager Ralf Rangnick has rubbished rumours Cristiano Ronaldo could replace Harry Maguire as captain, calling the reports ‘absolutely nonsense’.

United have been besieged with dressing room leaks in recent days with club stalwart Gary Neville claiming he knew who was at fault and called the issue ‘disgusting’.

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A story first emerged claiming United’s players refer to Ralf Rangnick’s American assistant Chris Armas as Ted Lasso in reference to the comedy football coach.

Further stories later claimed a rift between summer signing Cristiano Ronaldo and star forward Marcus Rashford, with the latter taking to Twitter to dismiss the claims.

Another report has since emerged suggested that club captain Maguire could lose the armband, a story that was initially rebuffed by the defender, and now his manager.

Rangnick begun his press conference by saying: “Well to start with I must say, this is absolutely nonsense. 

“I have never spoken to any player about a chance in captaincy, Harry is aware of that and Cristiano. 

“It's me who decides who is captain and I don't have to talk to anyone else about that. Harry is our captain and he will stay our captain.”

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“I’m not frustrated because it's not the truth,” he continued. “Harry is the captain, it's not an issue and hasn't been an issue. 

“My full focus is preparing the team in training for the next game. I have heard what is written I can only tell you from my personal experience. 

“There were players unhappy until the close of the window because the squad was too big and players weren't getting game time. 

“The atmosphere in the dressing room is better than it was a few weeks ago for that reason. It's about performing well, togetherness on the pitch and winning games. They are the things we can influence.”

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Rangnick’s next match comes against rivals Leeds after a stress-relieving 2-0 win against Brighton.

Previously the Red Devils had given up one-goal leads to draw against Burnley and Southampton in the Premier League.

Rangnick has talked about the rivalry and discussed what needs to change.

“Leeds are a team that play with the highest amount of speed, so it's important for us not to allow them to play like that,” he explained.

“Whenever they pass the ball they're trying to increase the tempo of the game, another thing they're very man orientated. They play with the highest amount of speed, momentum, and tempo, we need to stop them doing that. Equally they concede a lot, only Norwich have conceded more.

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"We are well prepared to play for 90 minutes and stick to the game plan.

“I didn't know that until a week ago but most of my colleagues have indicated this is probably one of the biggest rivalries in the Premier League and of course I had those local derbies in Germany, Schalke vs Borussia Dortmund as one example. 

“Our team has a lot of experience playing in that atmosphere and it may raise their performance. Last year at Leeds it was behind closed doors. Everybody prefers to play in a sold-out stadium rather than an empty one and I'm looking forward to it.”