Pep Guardiola leaves skipper call to players

Pep Guardiola says his Manchester City squad must decide themselves who they want to appoint as club captain going forward.

Previous skipper Vincent Kompany left at the end of last season and playmaker David Silva is tipped to succeed the Belgian despite having already confirmed he will also move on next summer. Silva captained City for Wednesday’s 4-1 pre-season friendly win against West Ham in China but a permanent replacement will not be made until all the squad are back from summer breaks.

“They will choose the captain when we are all together,” Guardiola said. “After they are all back (they are) going to make a meeting and decide who is going to be captain.” Kevin De Bruyne would like the chance to continue the line of Belgian leadership by taking on the captaincy, but the midfielder also feels it must be a group decision.

“If the team wants me to be captain, or the club does, I would gladly accept it, but I think that’s something everybody needs to talk about as a team, as a club,” said De Bruyne. “This will be talked about when everyone comes back.” Meanwhile, Guardiola remains confident Leroy Sane will be a City player next season despite the Germany winger being heavily linked with a move to Bayern Munich this summer.

Asked if he expected Sane to stay at the Etihad Stadium, the City boss said: “Yes. The club made him an offer last year. As I said many times, we want people happy to be here. We are going to help him to be the best.

“We know his potential and what his level is. He has a special quality difficult to find around the world.” Manchester City are 1.62 to win a third consecutive Premier League title.