The Daily Mail reported that Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola broke with tradition and decided to handpick the team’s new captain for next season.
European teams, particularly English teams, choose their new captain based on a player vote, rather than a decision by the coach, as is usually the case with Arab teams.
City lost last season’s captains, Kyle Walker and Kevin De Bruyne, after they were announced to leave this summer.
The players were supposed to choose a new captain from among themselves, but Guardiola intervened and decided to hand the armband to Portuguese star Bernardo Silva.
Silva subsequently announced that he had rejected all offers from European and Saudi clubs and that he would remain at the Etihad Stadium next season.
The hierarchy of captains has not been determined, but according to the Daily Mail, Ruben Dias, Rodri, Ilkay Gundogan, and Erling Haaland will form the club’s leadership council.
It’s worth noting that Bernardo Silva joined City seven years ago from Monaco, and last season, like the rest of Guardiola’s squad, he suffered from a decline in performance. His advancing age, coupled with a decline in performance, made it likely that he would leave, but the Spanish coach ultimately stuck with him.
