Manchester United fans DEMAND Cristiano Ronaldo takes the captaincy as he rallies the troops in a rousing interview ahead of Saturday's clash with Aston Villa... calling on his team-mates to finish no less than third in the Premier League this season Manchester United find themselves down in seventh in the Premier League table Cristiano Ronaldo insists anything less than a third-place finish would be failure Ronaldo has issued a rallying cry to his team-mates in a stirring interview United fans believe his winning mentality means should be captain of the club By Oliver Salt For Mailonline Published: 08:47 GMT, 13 January 2022 | Updated: 08:47 GMT, 13 January 2022 Viewcomments Manchester United fans are calling for Cristiano Ronaldo to take over as captain on the back of a rousing interview in which he urges his team-mates to finish no less than third in the Premier League. Ronaldo would have been hoping to challenge for the title upon his return to Old Trafford last summer, but United already find themselves 22 points behind leaders Manchester City down in seventh at the halfway stage of the season. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer paid the price for a dreadful run of five defeats in seven matches earlier in the campaign, with interim boss Ralf Rangnick replacing him at the helm last month. Man United fans want Cristiano Ronaldo to be captain after his rousing Sky Sports interview United have since taken 13 points from a possible 18 under their new manager, and Ronaldo - who has scored 14 goals in 21 games this term - believes they now have to push on and finish near the top. 'Manchester United should win the league or be second or third,' he told Sky Sports. 'I don't see other positions for Manchester United to be honest, I don't see. In my eyes, I don't accept that our mentality be less than to be in the top three in the Premier League.' Ronaldo insists anything less than a third-place finish would be a failure for United this season He then added: 'I don't want to be here in a club to fight to be in sixth or seventh or fifth place, I'm here to try to win, to compete. I think we compete but we are not yet at our best level. Long way to improve and I believe if we change our mind, we can achieve big things.' After watching the interview, United fans quickly took to Twitter to wax lyrical about Ronaldo's mentality, insisting he should be captain instead of current skipper Harry Maguire. One wrote: 'SAY IT LOUDER FOR THOSE IN THE BACK @Cristiano the rightful captain'. Cristiano Ronaldo should be the captain of Manchester United.Standards trickle down from the captain, and his mentality needs to be instilled into these players. — Alexei (@MUFC_redarmy99) January 13, 2022 Another said: 'This is the elite mentality needed at #MUFC. The dressing room lacks winners and players willing to do the hard graft to become winners. Just give him the armband.' A third commented: 'Cristiano Ronaldo should be the captain of Manchester United. Standards trickle down from the captain, and his mentality needs to be instilled into these players.' While one simply put: 'Give him the armband immediately'. Read more: Share or comment on this article: All rights reserved for this news site (dailymail) and under his responsibility