IN A MOVE that will surprise nobody, Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini has announced that defender Vincent Kompany is the club’s new captain – the Belgian taking the armband from wantaway Carlos Tevez.
The striker has yet to make a start for City this season – having spent most of the summer trying to engineer a transfer away from the City of Manchester Stadium – and Mancini has now confirmed the Argentine’s complete fall from grace.
“I never see wearing the captain’s armband as defining whether you are a leader or not,” Kompany revealed in a club statement. “It makes it official, but I’ve always been someone who has thrived under pressure and the more pressure I feel, the better I perform. I enjoy responsibility.”
The 25-year-old has secured a regular starting spot in the City line-up ever since his move from Hamburg and with Tevez also in line for a start, Mancini has moved to clarify the situation. The Italian explained:
“The reason is simple: in the summer Carlos wanted to leave the club for family reasons. I respected his opinion and agreed that he could leave the club.
“Now, Carlos is here and he is a fantastic player for us because he can score 20 goals in a season. But I decided in the summer that Vincent is the captain. Carlos has accepted that.”