Cristiano Ronaldo Named Manchester United Captain After Injury Sidelines Maguire

Portuguese football star Cristiano Ronaldo has taken over as the Manchester United captain for a Premier League match against the Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. on Monday, the first time since 2008.

With Red Devils' regular captain Harry Maguire "not available" for the Premier League side due to a chest injury, the Portugal international maverick assumed the captaincy for Ralf Rangnick's team at Old Trafford for the first time since he returned to the club in the summer of 2021, GOAL reported.

"He is the most experienced player in total. The choice was David de Gea or him." Rangnick explains.

While the encounter did not end well as the Bruno Lage-led Wolves won 1-0 against his side, fans were quick to take to social media to reflect on the clash.

After the official Manchester United Twitter account posted news of Ronaldo's temporary captaincy and captioned a photo of him with, "Ron it back," some football enthusiasts commented to "make it permanent." Others also dubbed him as the "captain fantastic" and "the best captain in the world."

"Now leave the Armband with him. He actually understands what the club is about," another user said per Sports Illustrated.

Ronaldo was last given the Manchester United armband on March 19, 2008, during a Premier League match against Bolton Wanderers at Old Trafford, a contest they won 2-0.

At the time, Sir Alex Ferguson managed the club and asked Cristiano to stand in for Wales veteran Ryan Giggs, who was on the bench alongside Wayne Rooney and Rio Ferdinand.

Meanwhile, with center backs Harry Maguire, Eric Bailly, and Victor Lindelof's unavailability for the Wolves on Monday, Phil Jones was pushed to make his first appearance for the senior team after being out of action since January 2020 due to a knee injury, according to Sporting News.

"He was extremely professional all the time even when he wasn’t in the squad," Rangnick said of Jones, who has been training and playing with the Under-23 side as he worked his way back to match fitness.

"We knew since last night our other two center backs that played against Burnley were out, so for me, it was the logical choice," he added.