Manchester City will need a third captain in as many seasons whenever the next campaign kicks off.

David Silva took the armband from long-time occupant Vincent Kompany last summer but will be saying his own farewells to the Etihad at the end of the current season.

Pep Guardiola has not always seemed to fully comprehend being asked questions about the captaincy and the idea that he would pick someone, seemingly happy for the players to sort it out between themselves.

There are a few senior stars that there could be little quibbling about were they to become the next club captain: Fernandinho and Sergio Aguero are already part of the leadership group and used to captaining the side.

However, both of those players have contracts expiring in the summer of 2021 so wouldn’t be a long-term successor to Silva, in all likelihood meaning another captain had to be appointed in another year.

With the uncertainty sparked by the two-year ban from the Champions League, a more permanent appointment from Guardiola would send a stronger message.

City have insisted their ban will be overturned, but that has not stopped stars including Kevin De Bruyne, Raheem Sterling, Aymeric Laporte and Gabriel Jesus from being linked with a move away from the Etihad.

At least two of those four have been talked about as future captains before, with last season seen as a toss-up between De Bruyne and Silva to take over from Kompany.

Bypassing the most experienced players and handpicking a successor may not be how City are used to deciding these things, but selecting one of the stars in the prime of their career would be a confident statement in an uncertain time. De Bruyne is the standout candidate, but Sterling, Laporte, or Bernardo Silva would also be significant.

Of course, impact on the pitch and in the dressing room will also have to be weighed up and Fernandinho and Aguero have a lot to offer in both respects. But as Guardiola has been at pains to point out before, an armband does not determine whether or not you can lead your teammates and set the standard, so the club can still be full of good examples.

A club captain can be an important statement though not just for inside the confines of the Etihad Campus but reaching far beyond.

For any rival clubs or potential signings interested in knowing if the Blues still had the clout to keep their best players with their European future in the air, changing the policy with the captaincy and giving it to one of the players at their peak would give an emphatic answer.