Kevin De Bruyne Demoted In Manchester City Captain List After Recent Player Vote

Kevin De Bruyne has reportedly dropped from vice-captain of Manchester City to fourth choice after a recent vote by the squad.

The Telegraph have reported Fernandinho remains captain for this season after signing a one-year contract extension, but De Bruyne now has two names above him.

Fellow midfielder Ilkay Gundogan and central defender Ruben Dias are now second and third in line respectively.

De Bruyne last captained City during May's Champions League final, which they lost 1-0 to domestic rivals Chelsea.

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Manager Pep Guardiola has let his squad vote on the captain hierarchy since Vincent Kompany's departure in 2019.

David Silva was captain for 2019-2020 before he left for Real Sociedad and Fernandinho took over.

The Brazil international is now 36-years-old and is expected to play a smaller role this time out.

It means Gundogan will likely be captain on the pitch after a fine individual campaign.

Dias' promotion to third captain comes after a debut year which saw him win PFA Player of the Year.

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The 24-year-old took the armband for Wednesday's enthralling 6-3 win over RB Leipzig at the Etihad Stadium.

Strikes from Nathan Ake, Riyad Mahrez, Jack Grealish, Joao Cancelo and Gabriel Jesus as well as a Nordi Mukiele own goal sealed dominant victory.

Guardiola did cause controversy in his post-match interview however by commenting on the home team's support.

Empty stands were visible on television and Guardiola is keen to see that fixed in Saturday's 3pm kick-off against Southampton.

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"I would say the last three games we played here we scored 16 goals," Guardiola told BT Sport per Daily Mirror.

"So I would like more people to come to the next game on Saturday, we need the people next Saturday. Please.

"We will be tired. I know the team from Ralph [Hasenhuttl, Southampton manager] is quite similar to the way they play.

"They are so, so dangerous with good quality and it's a really important game for us.

"So I invite to all our people to come next Saturday, 3pm, to watch the game."

City sit fifth in the Premier League table after three wins from their opening four games.

Topics: Manchester City, Football, Premier League, England, Kevin de Bruyne

Daniel Marland

Daniel is a journalist for SPORTbible and he has previous experience with Manchester United. He has spoken to some of the biggest names in sport including Rio Ferdinand, Peter Crouch, WWE COO Triple H and WWE legend The Undertaker. May or may not do a decent impression of Jamie Carragher.

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