Manchester City will need a third captain in as many seasons whenever the next campaign kicks off.
David
Silva took the armband from long-time occupant Vincent Kompany last
summer but will be saying his own farewells to the Etihad at the end of
the current season.
Pep Guardiola has not always seemed to
fully comprehend being asked questions about the captaincy and the idea
that he would pick someone, seemingly happy for the players to sort it
out between themselves.
There are a few senior stars that
there could be little quibbling about were they to become the next club
captain: Fernandinho and Sergio Aguero are already part of the
leadership group and used to captaining the side.
However,
both of those players have contracts expiring in the summer of 2021 so
wouldn’t be a long-term successor to Silva, in all likelihood meaning
another captain had to be appointed in another year.
With
the uncertainty sparked by the two-year ban from the Champions League, a
more permanent appointment from Guardiola would send a stronger
message.
City have insisted their ban will be overturned,
but that has not stopped stars including Kevin De Bruyne, Raheem
Sterling, Aymeric Laporte and Gabriel Jesus from being linked with a
move away from the Etihad.
At least two of those four have
been talked about as future captains before, with last season seen as a
toss-up between De Bruyne and Silva to take over from Kompany.
Bypassing
the most experienced players and handpicking a successor may not be how
City are used to deciding these things, but selecting one of the stars
in the prime of their career would be a confident statement in an
uncertain time. De Bruyne is the standout candidate, but Sterling,
Laporte, or Bernardo Silva would also be significant.
Of
course, impact on the pitch and in the dressing room will also have to
be weighed up and Fernandinho and Aguero have a lot to offer in both
respects. But as Guardiola has been at pains to point out before, an
armband does not determine whether or not you can lead your teammates
and set the standard, so the club can still be full of good examples.
A
club captain can be an important statement though not just for inside
the confines of the Etihad Campus but reaching far beyond.
For
any rival clubs or potential signings interested in knowing if the
Blues still had the clout to keep their best players with their European
future in the air, changing the policy with the captaincy and giving it
to one of the players at their peak would give an emphatic answer.
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