Pep Guardiola opens up on Manchester City’s new club captain and behind-the-scenes relationship with Txiki Begiristain | OneFootball

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has openly discussed for the first time the club’s decision to appoint a new permanent captain.

The Premier League champions, after one-and-a-half seasons with the veteran full-back in the role of club captain, saw Kyle Walker leave the club during the recent January transfer window after a request from the 34-year-old himself.

Having asked for a transfer to be entertained by Txiki Begiristain at the midway stage of a difficult season for both himself and City as a whole, Kyle Walker ultimately got his wish by joining AC Milan on a loan deal until the end of the campaign with an option to buy.

In light of the move, Manchester City moved swiftly to reshuffle their leadership group voted in by the squad upon the conclusion of the 2024 summer transfer window, with Kevin De Bruyne promoted to captain and Ruben Dias moving into the vice-captain position.

Speaking during a recent media conference, Pep Guardiola admitted that City’s new club captain in De Bruyne will likely bring his own unique approach to leadership of the team for the remainder of the season, and perhaps beyond.

“Everyone is everyone,” Guardiola said when asked of De Bruyne’s differing personality in the dressing room in contrast to previous Manchester City captains including Vincent Kompany, Fernandinho, and Ilkay Gundogan.

Guardiola continued, “Kevin (De Bruyne) is his own personality as a captain, we are pleased because the players chose him and he’s going to be deserved because he’s the oldest player here for many years and being a captain is an honour for all of us.”

Another change pending in a senior position at Manchester City concerns the sporting director role, and Txiki Begiristain’s exit after 12 seasons at the Etihad Stadium with recently-departed Sporting director of football, Hugo Viana taking his place from the summer market.

“We trust each other, I would say. We understand the world of football, we don’t judge for what just the results are, we are happy and unhappy when we’re not doing good and he’s done an incredible job here,” Guardiola said when asked for insight on his relationship with Begiristain.

He continued, “Unbelievable job for many, many years in many, many terms; bringing incredible players and how patient he is in all the tough situations. He made an incredible job as well this time.”

Hugo Viana has already firmly begun the process of transitioning into Begiristain’s role of Director of Football at Manchester City over the last few weeks, offering vital insight into numerous completed transfer deals during the January window.

There is a belief in various quarters that the likes of Abdukodir Khusanov and Vitor Reis were specifically identified as targets by Viana, who has since started spending more time in and around the City Football Academy facilities having formally left Sporting earlier this month.