Kyle Walker has been named as the Manchester City captain for the remainder of the season. Simon Bajkowski of Manchester Evening News broke the news yesterday of the England international assuming the role for the rest of this season.
It completes a remarkable turnaround for Walker. It appeared that he was set to leave the world champions in the summer. Florian Plettenberg had reported during the summer that the City captain had agreed to a move to Bayern Munich. But the full-back had a change of heart and signed a contract extension with Manchester City. His new deal runs until the end of the 2026 season.
With Kyle Walker being named captain it shows how valued he is by his City teammates. The Manchester City captaincy is voted on by the players of Pep Guardiola’s squad. City players nominate 5 players for the leadership group and a captain is chosen from the 5 candidates. The fact that Walker has been named captain shows just how important his contribution to the treble winners is.
Along with Kyle Walker, there were four other players named in the City leadership group. Kevin De Bruyne, Rodri, Ruben Dias and Bernardo Silva make up the champion’s leadership group for the 23/24 season. With former captain Ilkay Gundogan departing the club in the summer, there was a vacancy in the leadership group. Bernardo Silva joins the group for the first time during his spell with the club.
With the Manchester City leadership group and captaincy decided the champions can now focus on the rest of the season. They are next in action at the weekend when they face Newcastle United at St.James Park.
