Marcus Rashford and Paul Pogba were allegedly the two players to reject the chance to become Manchester United captain under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

Upon the Norwegian's departure in late 2021, Harry Maguire donned the armband for the Red Devils, who named him the successor to Ashley Young in January 2020.

However, Solskjaer recently spoke at length with The Athletic about his time at the Theatre of Dreams, during which he revealed that a "couple" of players rejected the chance to become club captain.

When asked if he felt that some players threw him under the bus, Solskjaer responded: "No. Not really. Some weren't as good as their own perception of themselves.

"I won't name names, but I was very disappointed when a couple turned down the chance to be captain. I was also disappointed when others said they wouldn't play or train because they wanted to force their way out.

"There was stuff in the media after I left about how I treated some players, which were complete lies, but I had a solid, honest relationship with most of them."

According to sources contacted by The Sun, the two players who turned down the opportunity to captain the 20-time English champions were Pogba and Rashford, who each had different reasons for turning their noses up to the armband.

The report alleges that Pogba refused captaincy duties as he was trying to force an exit from Old Trafford, although he did not succeed in those efforts until the summer of 2022, when his contract expired.

Ending a turbulent time at Man United, the Frenchman left Old Trafford for Juventus for a second time last year, but he played just 10 games for the Bianconeri in an injury-hit 2022-23 season.

Pogba also turned out just twice for Massimiliano Allegri's team in 2023-24 before being provisionally suspended for failing a doping test, which could carry a four-year ban if he is found guilty.

Meanwhile, Rashford - who had only just turned 24 by the time Solskjaer left the club - is said to have passed up the chance to become the Red Devils' skipper as he did not feel he was ready for such a responsibility.

The England international's form also suffered a dramatic nosedive in the 2021-22 season under Solskjaer and Ralf Rangnick, as he managed just four Premier League goals and was tipped to leave in the summer before Erik ten Hag convinced him to stay.

Rashford rediscovered his golden touch last season with 30 goals and 11 assists from 56 matches in all tournaments, but he has just one goal to show from his first seven outings this term.

Maguire retained possession of the captain's status for three-and-a-half years, but having been demoted to a bit-part role under Ten Hag, the England defender was stripped of the armband in the summer.

Bruno Fernandes - who often filled in as skipper last season - was given the captaincy permanently instead, and the Portuguese playmaker came up with the only goal in Saturday's 1-0 win over Burnley, which ended the Red Devils' three-game losing run.