Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has confirmed that Antonio Valencia will be the skipper of his arsenal this season. Valencia sustained a calf injury during pre-season and the actual date of his return is unknown at the moment. He will assume captaincy after his return.
Paul Pogba captained the Red Devils in their 2-1 win over Leicester City last Friday and the French World Cup winner will continue to do the same until Valencia returns from his injury. Pogba seemed to have the calibre of wearing the captain’s armband and played stupendously against the Foxes.
Nonetheless, Mourinho has apparently gone with experience for the longer run and it isn’t surprising to see Valencia being named as the captain of the club. The 33-year-old has made 235 appearances for the red half of Manchester ever since his move from Wigan Athletic nine years ago.
Speaking about the captaincy situation, Mourinho said: “We thought, I think it was before the game against Basel. Pogba is a young guy, with a good personality, made in the academy, normally a starting line-up player, so he has the conditions to be a captain in the future.”
“In the continuity of this, with no Antonio (Valencia) in the team, he was the captain and for the next match I don’t think Antonio’s going to play, so he’ll be the captain again. But one day when Antonio comes back, Antonio will be the captain again.”