Manchester: Roberto Mancini has confirmed Carlos Tevez is no longer Manchester City captain.
The Argentine publicly reiterated his desire to leave City this summer but was unable to seal a move away before the close of the transfer window.
While the striker could make his first start this season against Wigan Athletic on Saturday after returning to fitness, his position as captain has been passed to defender Vincent Kompany, who has worn the armband for City's opening three games, because of his request to leave the club.
"The captain now is Vinnie Kompany," Mancini told reporters.
"The reasons are simple. Carlos wanted to leave the club in the summer for family reasons."
"I respected his opinion about wanting to leave, but Carlos is still here because we didn’t find a solution for him."
"He's a fantastic player for us, someone who can score 20 goals a season, but I decided in the summer that Vinnie was the captain."
Mancini insists Tevez accepted the decision to hand-over the armband to the Belgium international and expects the 27-year-old to continue with his industrious work ethic.
"Carlos is a clever man. He trains very well, Carlos works very well. Sometimes maybe, like all the other players, it's impossible that all the players train very well every day," said Mancini.
“Maybe if a player plays the night before he doesn't sleep very well, and that's a problem for every player. But Carlos works very well, and when he plays the games he's an incredible player."
Tevez has made one substitute appearance for City this season, replacing fellow Argentine Sergio Aguero in the 3-2 win at Bolton on August 21.
City have won all three of their matches this season so far, and take on Wigan at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday.
Comments
0 comment