London, Sep 10 (IANS): Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini has stripped Carlos Tevez of captaincy for trying to quit the club.

The Italian gave the captain's arm band to Vincent Kompany for the first three games while Tevez was regaining to fitness, The Sun reported.

"The captain is Vinnie Kompany. It is simple. Carlos wanted to leave the club in the summer for family reasons. I respect his opinion about wanting to leave but Carlos is still here because we didn't find a solution for him. He has accepted it. Carlos is a clever man," Mancini said.

Mancini, however, praised Tevez.

"He's a fantastic player for us, someone who can score 20 goals a season. Carlos trains very well and works very well," said Mancini.

City have scored 12 goals in their three wins so far this season but Mancini still finds things to moan about.

"I think we need to improve. We started the season very well but for example, against Tottenham we cannot concede a goal like that. I think United are two or three yards ahead of us," he said.