Clever Ilkay has what it takes to lead City attack
PEP Guardiola has explained the surprise revelation that he views Ilkay Gundogan as one of the options to replace injured Sergio Aguero.
While he backed Gabriel Jesus as the obvious replacement, the Blues boss pointed out that the pressing need for rotation in the hectic, restarted season means the Brazilian cannot be expected to play in every game.
He went on to list the players he felt could step into the striking role without too much fuss and, while the names of Raheem Sterling and Bernardo Silva were no great surprise, he added Gundogan to that mix.
The Germany international is more comfortable sitting at the base of midfield, although he is more then competent in more advanced midfield positions.
But few have considered him to be a player who could take the central role in a front three - until now.
Guardiola was asked to expand on his throwaway comment, and he made it plain he was not seeing Gundogan playing the same role as Aguero.
He said: “The players who understand the game, and they are so much smarter, they understand how to play football, they can play all the positions.
“There are incredible players who can only play one position and Ilkay can play in many, many positions.
“Not as a striker, as a main target but a striker like he can drop and play and get to the box.
“He is an outstanding player because he is so intelligent - and intelligent players can play as fullbacks, wingers, in the same time, the same role.”
Jesus came on as a substitute against Chelsea as he wasn’t fully fit, but Guardiola has every confidence in him.
He said: “We don’t have any doubts about him like everyone knows but of course we play a lot of games with a short time for recovery and preparation.
“That’s why we have to think about different options.”