Manchester United's Harry Maguire said he got the captain's armband "a lot sooner" than he would have dreamed of while admitting that the club's dressing room is full of leaders.
The 27-year-old joined United from Leicester City in 2019 and was given the captain's armband at Old Trafford less than six months after walking through the door.
"He (Ole Gunnar Solskjaer) just pulled me and he said, 'Look, I'm going to make you captain of this club'. Obviously it was a great moment for myself -- it's a huge honour to play for this club, never mind be the captain and lead the boys out at Old Trafford," the club's official website quoted Maguire as saying.
"It's a massive honour and a massive privilege. It came a lot sooner than I would have dreamed of. Obviously Ash [Ashley Young] was here before, I learned a lot off Ash when he was here for three or four months. A great guy, a great player for the club, a great servant," he added.
Manchester United are performing brilliantly in the 2020-2021 season of the Premier League. The club sits atop the table with 40 points from 19 games.
Talking about his teammates, Maguire said: "We have a lot of leaders in the dressing room, a lot of senior pros. And you don't have to be a senior pro to be a leader. Axel [Tuanzebe] is a leader, in the ways that he works and speaks in the dressing room. And he's only a young boy, he's still learning his trade -- I'm sure he'll go on to have an unbelievable career."
"I think we have a lot of leaders. There's Bruno [Fernandes], who has come in and made a massive impact at the club, results-wise but also off the field. His mentality -- it rubs off on other people when you have a strong mentality, a winning mentality. Nemanja [Matic], Juan [Mata], David [De Gea] -- they've been at the club a while now. There's definitely a lot of leaders in the dressing room," he added.
Manchester United will next play against Sheffield United on Thursday.
( With inputs from ANI )
Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor