Manchester City boss Manuel Pellegrini has warned skipper Vincent Kompany his status doesn't guarantee a first team place.

Nicolas Otamendi arrived last week to deepen City's defensive options.

Pellegrini stated: "A player is captain for a lot of reasons, because is a good leader, a good performer, has played for the same club for many years, and is an international.

"But for me, the most important thing is the performance. If the performance of any player is not the performance I know he can give, then I think we must find a replacement - for the captain or not the captain. The captain has more responsibility than a normal player.

"I trust in Vincent, I trust Mangala, I trust Otamendi, I think the experience of Martin Demichelis (City's fourth centre back) is important also. In that position now, we have very good players. We have two good players in every position.

"Competition is very important. The important thing (for players) is not to play as many games as they can, it is to play well when you have to."