Pep Guardiola will let his players decide who should be Manchester City’s next captain.

The Premier League champions need a new on-field leader following the retirement of the long-serving Vincent Kompany at the end of last season.

David Silva took the armband for Wednesday’s pre-season game against West Ham in China, but a decision on a permanent skipper will not be made until all squad members return from their summer breaks.

City manager Guardiola said: ‘They will choose the captain when we are all together. After they are all back [they are] going to make a meeting and decide who is going to be captain.’

Playmaker Kevin De Bruyne says he would happily take on the role if he was offered the City captaincy.

The 28-year-old said: ‘About the captaincy, I don’t know. If the team wants me to be captain, or the club does, I would gladly accept it but I think that’s something everybody needs to talk about as a team, as a club.

‘This will be talked about when everyone comes back. There are a lot of players missing from the Copa America and Riyad [Mahrez] is still at the Africa Cup of Nations.

‘We will need to do that together because it is a really important job, not only on the pitch but off the pitch.’