Harry Maguire has been stripped of Manchester United captaincy but what has happened next to other stars who lost their armband?

Harry Maguire, for the first time in three-and-a-half years, is no longer Manchester United‘s official captain. The 30-year-old took to social media to announce that he has been stripped of United’s armband, with Bruno Fernandes his replacement. 

He does not leave behind the role in clouds of disgrace and anger. It was a decision made after his slump in form over recent seasons, with a pat on the back for his service accompanied by the assertion that he no longer needed to take on the responsibility as captain.

Maguire has indicated that he would like to stay and fight for his place at Old Trafford. 

For some players, this approach has worked a treat, allowing them to revive their relationships with a fanbase.

For others, it has barely been an option and they have left their teams on acrimonious terms. And below, Mail Sport looks over the previous stars who were stripped of their top dog status and asked: what happened next?  

Harry Maguire is no longer Man United captain. What happens next to the armband-deprived? 

William Gallas – Arsenal

Gallas’ captaincy at Arsenal was always going to be controversial, considering Arsene Wenger gifted him the job just a year after he joined from fellow Londoners Chelsea. But the Arsenal faithful initially embraced Gallas and in 2007 he became the third Frenchman in a row to lead out the Gunners’ squad. 

Things turned pear-shaped in November 2008 when he was axed as captain and excluded from a trip to Manchester City. 

Gallas often attracted headlines for unconventional behaviour but overstepped the line in publicly criticising his team-mates and was reportedly fined two weeks’ wages.

Despite this, he would remain at the club until the end of the 2009-10 season because he was a valuable player. 

After that, in typical ire-provoking fashion, he crossed the border to Tottenham Hostpur, swapping Arsene Wenger for Harry Redknapp. 

William Gallas was stripped of the captaincy at Arsenal before moving to rivals Tottenham

Mauro Icardi – Inter Milan  

Mauro Icardi always had a stormy relationship with Inter Milan. On the one hand, he scored lots of goals. On the other, his incendiary remarks provoked the rage of the club’s Curva Nord ultras. 

In one of the most shocking plot twists, in his autobiography, Sempre Avanti (Always Ahead), he wrote ‘I will bring 100 criminals from Argentina who will kill them on the spot‘ in reference to a heated incident between himself and a section of the fans. 

In February of the 2018-19 season – his final season at the club, bar a loan at PSG the year after – Icardi was replaced as captain by Samir Handanovic and did not play again until April. 

It was reported that his team-mates did not see him as a leader and manager Luciano Spalletti said he had never dealt with a player like him before. His wife, Wanda Nara, spoke openly about the team on television while his sister, Ivana, publicly called her out and labelled her a ‘viper’.

Given all the furore, his relationship with the club has never really recovered and since leaving for PSG permanently in 2020 he has not returned. 

Mauro Icardi (left) and Wanda Nara were often vocal in their criticism of Inter Milan and fans

Joey Barton – QPR 

Joey Barton was the ultimate midfield bulldog of the prime Barclays era, the epitome of a hard-nosed, in-your-face enforcer – by hook or by crook, and often the latter. 

On the last day of the 2011-12 season, playing in the famous game that crowned Manchester City as champions, the QPR captain lived up to his persona a step too far.

On his way to being handed a 12-match ban and a £75,000 fine by the FA, Barton elbowed Carlos Tevez, kicked Sergio Aguero, and directed a headbutt at Vincent Kompany. 

Not only was he sent off as QPR fought for their Premier League lives, but the London club subsequently fined him six weeks’ wages – about £500,000 – and banned him from their pre-season tour of Asia.

Stripped of the captaincy, he was shunted out of loan to Marseille for the 2012-13 campaign, though he did return to play two more seasons with them, memories of his rashness leaving people on edge.  

QPR captain Joey Barton was known for being an antagonistic and combative character 

Barton clashed with Carlos Tevez and Manchester City players after elbowing the Argentine

Neymar – Brazil 

Neymar was only Brazil’s captain for a matter of months before bad behaviour saw him relieved of his duties. 

He landed in hot water when he punched a Rennes fan after 2019 Coupe de France final, receiving a three-match ban from the French FA. The star was also given a suspension in the Champions League for criticising the match officials. 

The string of controversies left Brazil manager Tite under pressure to make a change and Dani Alves was announced as Selecao’s new skipper. 

Tite said: ‘Neymar made a mistake, which was his fault. I will speak with Neymar about it. I will speak with him about manners. I will speak with Neymar as the Brazil coach, but also as a human being. It will be about manners and principles.’

His international career continued nevertheless and he has since become the nation’s all-time top scorer, though he has not featured since the 2022 World Cup  due to injuries and there have been rumours of international retirement. 

Neymar had his Brazil armband withdrawn after a string of controversies at club level with PSG

Granit Xhaka – Arsenal

One of the few examples on this list of relationships really healing, Granit Xhaka moved to Bayer Leverkusen this summer held in high regard at the Emirates – but it wasn’t always that way. 

In the 2019-20 season, the mercurial midfielder was booed off by fans and told them to ‘f*** off’ in a match against Crystal Palace. 

Unai Emery could not get the player to give a full apology and eventually stripped him of the captaincy in November 2019. 

Though fiercely unpopular in that period, relations recovered over time and fans came to embrace his intense personality, which he channeled into his midfield battles.

In his place, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was appointed as the dressing room head honcho. You’ll have to read on to see how that went. Spoiler alert: not great. 

Granit Xhaka reacted angrily after he was booed when substituted against Crystal Palace

John Terry – England 

John Terry’s arms were so problematic that they had to take away his England armband twice. 

In February 2010, Fabio Capello dethroned him as the nation’s leader after newspaper allegations that he had had an affair with a former partner of England team-mate Wayne Bridge in one of the most infamous sporting love scandals of the century. 

The manager was keen to draw a line under the saga as hype around the approaching World Cup built. 

Though reinstated as captain just over a year later, the Chelsea defender was again decommissioned in February 2012 due to his racism court trial. 

All the same, he made the Euros in the same year ahead of Rio Ferdinand and started every match in the tournament before retiring from international duty. 

John Terry was stripped of the England captaincy twice due to off-field issues 

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang – Arsenal

Mikel Arteta made the decision to scrap Aubameyang as Arsenal captain in December 2021 because he lacked the ‘commitment and passion’ to represent the club. A build-up of indiscretions led to the move.

The forward had been pictured with a tattoo artists despite strict lockdown restrictions, failed to be punctual before the north London derby, and delayed his return from a trip home – though he was visiting his sick mother.

Removing him as captain was bold because, for all his supposed attitude-related issues, he regularly produced on the pitch. 

In total, he bagged 92 goals in 163 outings across four-and-a-half seasons with the Gunners. 

However, he did not last long at Arsenal after this incident. On February 1, 2022, he left the club by mutual consent, and a day after, Barcelona announced his acquisition. 

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was removed from the Arsenal captaincy in a drastic move

Richard Keogh – Derby County 

Richard Keogh’s exit from Derby County was an unfortunate end to a long spell with the East Midlands club. 

The defender was in his eighth season with the Championship side, having made over 350 appearances, when Derby terminated his contract in October 2019 for gross misconduct after he refused to take a £1.3million pay cut.

In September, he was involved in a car crash that led to fellow players Tom Lawrence and Mason Bennett being charged with drink-driving. The Rams wanted their captain to take a pay cut as a result of his involvement but he refused. 

That wasn’t the end of the story, though. In January 2021, they had to award him £2.3m in damages after it was ruled that he had been unfairly dismissed. 

After recovering from heavy injuries, he returned to Pride Park in December 2021 in a Blackpool shirt and endured a mixed response. 

Derby terminated Richard Keogh’s contract but eventually had to pay him £2.3m in damages 

Daniel Frahn – Chemnitzer 

Third-tier German club Chemnitzer severed ties with captain Daniel Frahn in August 2019 after he chose to sit with leaders of a far-right hooligan lobby while out injured.

Instead of sitting on the bench, he sat with them to ‘show sympathy’, according to the club. 

He had previously been chided earlier in the year for supporting tributes to a deceased right-wing activist, holding up a tee-shirt which said: ‘Support your local hools’. The ex-Leipzig man, 32, had apologised for this. 

His remorse at the time was a farce,’ Romy Polster, deputy chair of Chemnitzer’s shareholder group, said in a club statement. ‘He could not and would not carry out his responsibility as a player and team captain of a football club, which requires something more than scoring goals and being cheered for: attitude.’

Frahn re-signed for former club SV Babelsberg 03 the following January and has plied his trade there since. 

German club Chemnitzer sacked Daniel Frahn after he showed sympathy for a far-right group