Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea was ignored for the club’s captaincy role in January following criticism of his team-mates earlier this season.
United changed their club captain in January as Ashley Young was close to completing his move to Inter Milan. Harry Maguire was given the armband despite only being at the club for six months since his arrival from Leicester City.
De Gea has been at United since 2011, having almost played 400 games for the club, so could have been a logical choice instead of Maguire.
But transfer expert Ian McGarry says speaking out about his team-mates and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s tactics led to the 29-year-old being left out of the running for the captaincy.
McGarry said on the Transfer Window podcast: “His criticism of team tactics and indeed the manager have not gone down well and led to him being withdrawn from being a candidate for the captaincy which Harry Maguire now holds.”
In October 2019, United suffered a 1-0 loss to Newcastle United at St James’ Park thanks to a Matty Longstaff goal.
The defeat left the Red Devils 12th in the Premier League table and De Gea spoke to the media afterwards, venting his frustration about his team’s performance
De Gea only signed a new contract at United last September, keeping him at the club until at least 2023.
McGarry says some of United’s staff believe the Spaniard has “downed tools” since signing the new deal.
He added: “There is a feeling at the club among some of the football department staff that De Gea has kind of downed tools to a certain extent since signing his new lucrative contract, and that’s led to the decrease in performance level.”
