BEST MAN

Jesus praises ‘amazing’ Aguero as City striker prepares to smash the club goalscoring record

‘AMAZING’ Sergio Aguero deserves to be crowned Manchester City’s all-time leading goalscorer, according to the man who is set to replace him.

Aguero will become City’s record scorer if he can find the net in tonight’s last-16 League Cup tie against Wolves at the Etihad Stadium.

Argentina striker Aguero is level on 177 goals with City’s late former striker Eric Brook, whose scoring milestone has stood for 78 years.

Gabriel Jesus, bought to be Aguero’s long-term replacement, hailed his remarkable heroics for City since joining in 2012 and said he deserves his place in history.

“I support him and I hope he can beat the record as soon as possible,” said Jesus.

“He deserves to become the top scorer of this club.

“I get on with Sergio very well. He’s an amazing guy. All of us know what type of player he is.

“He’s a fantastic person and I’m a fan of his.

“It’s very good to play with him. When you have a good relationship off the pitch, it makes it easier on the pitch.

“We help each other and that helps City. We defend the shirt of this club, so we pull together on the pitch – the same way we get along off it.”

Given Aguero’s phenomenal goal return for City, his £38million transfer fee from Atletico Madrid five years ago seems like a snip when set against the astronomical figures players are going for, with Neymar having cost Paris Saint-Germain £198m.

Aguero scored on his return for City in Saturday’s 3-0 win over Burnley, following a three-week lay-off after suffering a broken rib when the Amsterdam taxi in which he was travelling came off the road.

City boss Pep Guardiola hinted that Aguero (right, celebrating in the win at Watford) will start tonight, given the 29-year-old needs game-time to regain his match sharpness following his absence from the team.

Jesus could start with Aguero, the pair having formed an effective strike partnership before the latter’s injury, although Guardiola is likely to choose to rest the former. If Jesus does feature tonight, he will be looking to extend a remarkable record that has not seen him lose a game in 2017.

The 20-year-old, who joined City for £27m in January, was last on the losing side on October 29 last year, when his old club Palmeiras lost 1-0 to rivals Santos.

“I’m very happy to have been all this time without losing a game,” said Jesus.

“But it’s not only me, it’s thanks to the teams and teammates I have played in, such as Palmeiras, the Brazil team and now Manchester City.

Jesus saw his City career interrupted last season, when injury sidelined him for twoand-a-half months.

But he has hit the ground running this term, hitting eight goals in 12 games.

“The worst moment of my career was the injury I had here,” said Jesus.

“But it didn’t knock me down. I had everybody’s support, from my family and everyone at City.”