Jose Mourinho denies Paul Pogba was Manchester United's vice-captain with role set to be rotated

Mourinho will rotate the vice-captaincy between his senior players as and when full-time skipper Antonio Valencia is absent

Jose Mourinho has said that Paul Pogba was not Manchester United's vice-captain and that the club currently no fixed player in the role.

Mourinho confirmed after Tuesday’s shock EFL Cup defeat to Derby County that Pogba would no longer act as United’s “second captain” in Antonio Valencia’s absence.

The decision came after Pogba appeared to criticise Mourinho’s approach to United’s draw with Wolverhampton Wanderers at Old Trafford last weekend.

Ahead of Saturday’s trip to West Ham United, Mourinho said his decision had been based on an analysis of Pogba’s performances as captain rather than his post-Wolves comments.

The United manager went on to deny that Pogba had been named as United’s official vice-captain, and therefore could not have been officially demoted from the role.

“Paul was not the vice-captain,” he said. “We had Valencia as the captain and then we had the group of players that could be the vice-captain.”

Though Pogba had captained United for each of the three games Valencia missed, Mourinho suggested that he always planned to rotate the role around the squad's senior players.

“One day I give to David de Gea, Ashley Young, Chris Smalling,” he said. “I thought about Paul already last season because a player of a different generation, younger player and the captain of the future because Valencia, Young, they come more or less same age, same generation.

“Paul was not the vice-captain. We don’t have the vice-captain. It depends on the match, depends on if Valencia is playing.

“If Valencia is playing he’s the captain. If Valencia is not playing I will try to go in another direction.”

Pogba most recently captained United in their 3-0 Champions League group stage win over Young Boys, scoring twice and assisting the third goal from midfield.

The 25-year-old, who was confronted by Mourinho over an Instagram post earlier this week, is expected to start in Saturday’s lunch-time kick-off at the London Stadium.