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Pep Guardiola’s Sergio Aguero Ultimatum Leaves Doubts over Striker’s City Future
- Updated: October 25, 2016
Any Manchester City fans made nervous by Pep Guardiola’s decision not to start Sergio Aguero in games against Everton and Barcelona won’t have been relaxed too much by the Argentine’s performance in Sunday’s 1-1 draw with Southampton. Back in the starting lineup, the forward had a frustrating afternoon and was rarely able to influence play—though he’s not alone in that respect, as plenty of his teammates also struggled.
The manager explained in his pre-match press conference that beginning the Champions League game without Aguero was a “tactical decision” and that “Sergio’s [future is] at Manchester City,” per Jonathan Smith of ESPN FC.
Speaking about whether he’d be willing to sell the Argentine, he said: “I am sorry, when Sergio decides to leave Manchester City, it will be his decision. I appreciate him like a football player and appreciate like a man what he did here.
“The next time before you give your opinion and you decide he is not in my plans you can call me before you write if he is in my plans or not in my plans.”
Pep: I spoke with Sergio – he was very understanding and helped us from the bench. When Sergio decides to leave it will be his decision.
— Manchester City (@ManCity) October 21, 2016
With a record of 11 goals in 11 games so far this season, Aguero isn’t to be taken lightly and it would be a remarkably bold decision for Guardiola to begin phasing him out, especially at this stage in the campaign.
With the transfer window closed, only Gabriel Jesus is so far arriving in January as a further striking reinforcement, but as good as he’s been for both Brazil and Palmeiras, it’d still be a huge gamble to bank on the 19-year-old to turn on the style in the Premier League.
Nevertheless, something isn’t quite right at the moment. Aguero had 11 goals after six games, meaning he’s not found the net in his last five, and his performances since scoring twice at Swansea in September have been somewhat stunted.
He barely had a kick against Tottenham, struggled from the bench against Everton and Barcelona—missing a penalty in the Premier League fixture, his third failure from the spot for City this season—and he was very quiet when Southampton came to the Etihad on Sunday.
The Argentine came back from international duty carrying a slight abdominal injury and he probably didn’t earn much favour with his manager by playing for his national team while not fully fit.
The Mirror’s David McDonnell reported that Aguero was injured while playing domestically, but that he joined up with Argentina nonetheless: “This injury hit me while I was at City in the match against Celtic in the Champions League.
“It was hard, it rained a lot, the grass was long and muddy and then it hit …
