David Silva will be made Manchester City’s club captain for his final season at the Etihad.

The Spanish midfielder has ­reiterated his intention to quit the Premier League champions when his contract expires next summer. And manager Pep Guardiola is planning to give him the send-off he feels he deserves after a decade of service by handing him the ­skipper’s armband.

Silva, 33 , will succeed fellow City icon Vincent Kompany, after the Belgian ­decided to become player/manager of former club Anderlecht back home in Belgium having led the Blues to English football's first ever domestic Treble last season.

Kompany's departure means Silva is now the club’s longest-serving player, having arrived in 2010 from La Liga side Valencia for £24million weeks after he had helped Spain win the World Cup in South Africa.

(Image: Getty)

The man nicknamed ‘Merlin’ by City fans has captained the team before in Kompany’s absence. Fernandinho and Kevin De Bruyne have also stepped in when Kompany and Silva have both been out.

But it is the Spaniard who will become club skipper next season as he looks to add to the four ­Premier League titles, two FA Cups and four League Cups he has won as a Blue. He also won two European Championship medals during an international career of 125 caps.

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Meanwhile, Niall Quinn has hit back at Manchester City’s critics who say the club has just bought success and forgotten its past.

The ­Premier League champs have spent a whopping £1.5billion since their takeover by the Abu Dhabi United Group in 2008. Trophies have inevitably ­followed, with two league titles, two EFL Cups and the 2011 FA Cup preceding this year’s Treble.

(Image: PA)

Irishman Quinn, who starred for City in an era when they were Manchester’s poor relations, has rushed to their defence.

The former striker said: “The club hasn’t forgotten its past at all. They ­invited me and other former players to their parade. So I feel the rise of the club in the last ­decade has not come at the expense of its history.”

But if City want to win over the hearts and minds of fans from other clubs who say they’ve just bought success, Quinn warned: “They need to ­protect those roots.”

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City may have won the ­domestic battle last season, but lost the VAR one when a Turkish referee ruled out Raheem ­Sterling’s ­stoppage-time goal against Tottenham in the quarter-finals of the ­Champions League.

That decision cost the club the chance of a unique quadruple, and they are now in potential danger of being kicked out of the 2020/21 ­Champions League, for breaching Financial Fair Play. City have already appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, even though UEFA have yet to charge them.