With the start of the Premier League season now just three weeks away, Liverpool may have to appoint a new club captain.

The current skipper, Jordan Henderson, appears set to leave the club after the Reds agreed a $15m (£12m/€14m) deal with Saudi Pro League club Al-Ettifaq (as per the ECHO).

Virgil van Dijk, who was previously third in line behind Henderson and the now-departed James Milner, looks like the natural successor.

It just so happens that Manchester United, the Reds' arch-rival, has made a change too, but this one wasn't enforced.

Erik ten Hag has opted to take the armband off center-back Harry Maguire, who slipped well down the pecking order last season, and award it instead to Bruno Fernandes.

Fernandes is used to leading the team out — he did so on 42 occasions last season — but this is a momentous step nonetheless, one that left Maguire 'extremely disappointed' (via Eurosport). 

The Portuguese is doubtless a magnificent player, scoring 64 goals and providing 54 assists in 185 games for the club since his $89m (£68m/€80m) move from Sporting in January 2020. He featured in the PFA Team of the Year in 2020/21 and has twice been voted player of the year by United's fanbase.

But still, his attitude, and consequently the decision to award him the captaincy, have to be called into question.

There was no better reflection of this than his conduct on United's trip to Anfield in March for what was arguably the biggest game of their season.

As United came apart in the second half, conceding six times to fall to a historic 7-0 drubbing, Fernandes unraveled.

He went down holding his face in an attempt to get Ibrahima Konaté punished even though the Frenchman didn't make contact, he appeared to push the linesman as he grew frustrated at a delay and he stopped in his tracks after Stefan Bajčetić went past him, which pundit Ian Wright called the 'last straw' (via Mirror).

 

Sky Sports' Gary Neville even claimed while on commentary duty that Fernandes asked the coaching staff to bring him off, though the player himself insisted this wasn't the case.

"I think some of his behavior in the second half has been a disgrace," Neville, one of Fernandes' predecessors as captain, said.

In a scathing attack on the attacking midfielder, Neville also dubbed him 'embarrassing' and 'a shambles'.

Another United legend in Roy Keane offered a similarly damning verdict, suggesting he'd let his teammates down.

"Fernandes' body language was nothing short of disgraceful," the Irishman said. "He's a really talented boy but he's your captain. So much talent but his body language of waving his arms about and not running back? You wouldn't be happy with him in your dressing room."

The United players needed leadership more than ever in this scenario, but instead, Fernandes' behavior was nothing short of petulant.

It seemed that he almost gave up, regardless of whether or not he requested a substitution, and you wonder how the squad can be expected to rally behind someone who may desert them when the going gets tough.

Ultimately, Erik ten Hag has made a mistake in his appointment, and Liverpool has seen the evidence first-hand.

[Liverpool]