Former England striker Darren Bent has opined that Cristiano Ronaldo tried to lead Manchester United this season but not many players followed him. The Portuguese striker was sharing the leadership duties for the Red Devils along with Harry Maguire.

However, the team had a horrible season as they were not able to come up with a collective effort. Manchester United finished at the sixth place in the Premier League standings with 16 wins in 38 matches and could only manage 58 points, which is their worst-ever tally.

In fact, there were also reports of a rift among the players in Manchester United’s dressing room. On the other hand, the club’s David de Gea was impressive for the team along with Ronaldo and Bent wants the Spaniard to take the captaincy baton for the next season.

Meanwhile, it is well known that Cristiano Ronaldo pushes his players as he wants to get the best out of them. Furthermore, he can be a bit harsh at times when things don’t go his way.

As reported by The Sun, new manager Erik Ten Hag will let the dressing room decide their next skipper, and De Gea could be one of the contenders.

Bent said on TalkSport (via Manchester Evening News): “I think David De Gea should be the captain. My thing with Ronaldo is, we know he’s a leader, but he tried to lead this season and not many of the players followed him. Some of them went the other way.”

He added: “None of them improved, none of them wanted to follow the example that he set and he’s one of the greats, but there were times when people didn’t pass the ball to him and he’d turn his back on them and throw his arms up in the air. That’s not a captain. He was a captain this season without having the armband. For me, David de Gea would be my captain.”

It will be interesting to note Manchester United’s new captain and the club will look to bounce back stronger after a ho-hum season.