Michael Carrick has insisted that teammate Paul Pogba has what it takes to succeed him as Manchester United captain in the years to come.
United boss Jose Mourinho awarded the armband to Carrick on the back of Wayne Rooney's departure to Everton, citing the long-serving midfielder's experience as key to taking on the role.
The 35-year-old is out of contract at Old Trafford next summer and expected to bow out, however, potentially leaving Mourinho in need of a new man to lead the side in 12 months' time.
Carrick believes that Pogba ticks all the boxes required to skipper the side, while also backing the Frenchman to push on from last season in which he saw each of his performances come under the spotlight.
"He's certainly got the presence, character and belief to pull it off," The Mirror quotes him as saying. "All the time I'm sure the manager is planning a long way behind me, for someone to take on that mantle, and he's probably in that bracket where you'd say - 'yeah, he can be a future captain'.
"But you need a group of players and not just one individual, and he's certainly in that group. You need that inner confidence and inner belief. You're going to take some knocks, suffer some bumps and bruises along the way and take a lot of criticism, but you have to fight that off and be strong enough to get on with the job and believe in yourself.
"Obviously Paul is a confident lad, so over time he's going to be a great player for this club and have a big season this season. He's had a year to adjust, I know he was here as a kid, but a lot has gone on since then and he's played a lot of different football since then.
"So to come back with all the scrutiny he had last year and everything surrounding it, it was probably always going to be one of those years where you take time to settle in and improve. I think we've seen the improvement and we'll see it again next season."
Mourinho will not appoint a vice-captain for the 2017-18 campaign, instead passing the armband around for games from which Carrick is absent.
Daniel Lewis
