I saw a future captain in ugly Man City game - his next move is clear

There is more than one kind of captain in the modern game.

Manchester City have six, and they're not all the 'barking orders' kind of leaders. Kyle Walker takes his duties seriously, and Ruben Dias isn't afraid to call out teammates, but on the whole the leadership group is more a 'lead-by-example' style of captaincy.

Leadership comes in all sorts of ways. Kevin De Bruyne was the popular choice to replace Ilkay Gundogan in 2023 but didn't want the administrative duties disrupting his pre-match Candy Crush session. Rodri and Bernardo Silva lead in their own unique ways, too. It is the same in the academy, too.

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Kaden Braithwaite - who made his senior debut earlier this term - led the under-18s out for the start of their FA Youth Cup defence, yet you barely heard a peep from the left-back amid the howling wing and swirling rain. That's not a criticism, as he didn't put a foot wrong.

There was one voice that pierced through Storm Darragh. Kian Noble didn't have the armband, but he didn't need it. The confident centre-back played a key role in last season's Youth Cup triumph, setting up one goal in the final and seeing a goalbound header snatched from him on the line.

Noble brushed off any disappointment of being pushed out of the headlines by treating a huddle of journalists to a charismatic interview at the Etihad that night, comfortable in his own voice and confident in his own abilities.

Noble trained with England's senior team last season when they were a man short and he was suspended for the under-17s. He has