Whisper it quietly but Aguero could be on his way

convinced Aguero, signed from Atletico Madrid for a then club-record £38million in 2011, will be on his way at the end of the season. Guardiola has shown with his treatment of Hart, Toure and Nasri that he is not afraid to purge big names. Hart and Nasri are on loan at Torino and Sevilla while Toure has been frozen out at City. City’s new £27m striker Gabriel Jesus will arrive from Palmeiros at the end of the Brazilian season in December, with the Olympic gold medallist set to provide serious competition for Aguero, who had always been an automatic choice. Guardiola is tracking Borussia Dortmund’s PierreEmerick Aubameyang and monitoring Antoine Griezmann at Atletico Madrid. Both are forwards.

Skipper Vincent Kompany must also be fearing for his future after being left out of the squad of 18 for Barcelona despite being fit again. City could have done with his experience and leadership as they made mistakes that led to all four goals.

The biggest worry for Guardiola is that his team have now conceded 10 goals in a run of four winless games – the first time in his managerial career he has gone four games without a victory.

What has been underlined in recent games is City’s need for two new full-backs and a centre-half, if Guardiola no longer trusts 30-year-old Kompany to stay fit.

Guardiola has backed new keeper Bravo even though he seems to have unsettled City’s defence at a time when Hart has recovered top form. The only mitigation the Chile