Bernardo Silva has said that being made Manchester City captain by Pep Guardiola is one of his “biggest honours” and that he will look to Rodri, Erling Haaland and Rúben Dias to support him.
Silva is the first captain Guardiola has appointed in a 17-year coaching career, having previously allowed his players at City, Bayern Munich and Barcelona to vote on who should lead them.
Silva said: “It’s probably one of the biggest honours of my career. I’m going to start my ninth season at the club. We went through a lot of fantastic moments and some disappointments as well. All that experience, I will try to pass it to the younger guys. But the leadership in a team, it’s not about one guy. It’s not about me, it’s not about the last captain or the captain two or three or four years ago. It’s about each one of us being our own leader and helping the guy next to us in the dressing room.
“The same way that we helped the other guys, I’m counting on Rúben, on Rodri, on Erling, on all the guys to help me. Because I will need that help to help the team achieve a lot of things and hopefully win titles.”
Guardiola’s change of policy comes after he voiced disquiet at the start of the Club World Cup over what occurred last season. He hinted that the departure of Kyle Walker, Silva’s predecessor, on loan to Milan in January, was a factor. “I didn’t like what happened last season,” he said.
After City beat Juventus 5-2 to top Group G with a maximum nine points they will face Al-Hilal in the last 16 on Monday at Orlando’s Camping World Stadium. The game is a 2am BST kick-off on Tuesday. Silva said of the Juventus game: “We had a very good performance against a tough team. They beat us last season in the Champions League 2-0.”
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Rodri impressed in a first start since he sustained an anterior cruciate ligament injury last September, playing 65 minutes. “Everyone knows how important he is for us,” Silva said. “We’re happy that slowly he’s getting back to his best level. We know that it takes time with the injury that he had. But I think he showed that he’s getting better and better. And even not still at 100%, he helps a lot.”
