Aaron Ramsey named as new Wales captain after Gareth Bale's retirement

Aaron Ramsey has been named as Wales's new captain following Gareth Bale's retirement.

Bale, 33, announced in January that his football career had come to an end.

Wales's record scorer, he finished by leading his country in the World Cup finals in Qatar - their first appearance at the tournament since 1958.

Ramsey, 32, was previously vice-captain and Wales manager Rob Page said he saw his promotion as a "natural progression".

Page added: "He's got a big opportunity to work with the young players. He's in the right time of his career to lead the boys out and he is relishing it.

"I've spoken to Aaron. He's very appreciative of it and he's looking forward to the role."

Ramsey has done the job before - appointed by the late Gary Speed at the age of 20 in March 2011.

Speed's successor, Chris Coleman, gave the armband to Ashley Williams in October 2012 to allow Ramsey to focus on his football.

Ramsey, who has 78 caps, will lead his country for the first time in the Euro 2024 qualifiers against Croatia and Latvia.

Page has selected a 24-man squad for the matches, including four uncapped players.

Midfielders Jordan James and Ollie Cooper, who in Qatar but not part of the official World Cup squad, both feature.

Fulham youngster Luke Harris and Ipswich striker Nathan Broadhead are included too.

In addition to Bale, Chris Gunter, Joe Allen and Jonny Williams have also retired from international football since Wales's disappointing World Cup campaign, in which they scored only once and finished bottom of their group.