Stoke City manager Tony Pulis will not decide on a permanent club captain until he is finished dealing in the transfer market.
Abdoulaye Faye ended the season as stand-in captain after first-choice Andy Griffin lost his place in the side.
The Senegal international had a fine season at the Britannia Stadium and was awarded with the club's Player of the Season award following his bargain £2.25million switch from Newcastle.
And while Pulis admits that the 31-year-old is a front runner in his thoughts, he has yet to make up his mind as he continues to dabble in the transfer market.
"Nothing has been decided and nothing is a foregone conclusion," Pulis told The Sentinel when asked about the captaincy.
"I'll take stock of the situation once we know who we have and haven't signed over the summer. You can't really make a decision before then."
Pulis is on the lookout for another striker to challenge January-buy James Beattie, plus a new centre-half after missing out on Sami Hyypia, who joins Bayer Leverkusen from Liverpool next month.
The only likely candidate to rival Faye for the captaincy role is veteran defender Danny Higginbotham, but Pulis admits the former has already proved his worth to the side.
"We'll just have to see," Pulis added. "But I have to say that Abby needs to prove nothing - as both a player and a captain.
"Our fans showed what they thought of his first season with the club when they voted him Player of the Year.
"Abby isn't your shouter and bawler out on the pitch - not in English anyway.
"He prefers to lead more by example and I'm sure his colleagues would say he is a great example to have."
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