Top strikers will cost fortunes but Pep’s planning is priceless
WITHIN seconds of the news that Sergio Aguero was leaving Manchester City, the guessing game started.
The Argentine’s time was up. He will receive a statue in his honour and the grateful thanks of everyone at the club for a phenomenal goal-laden stay.
But it didn’t take long for the cogs to start whirring in the minds of all interested onlookers.
“Aguero’s been struggling with injury all season, he’s costing a fortune – I bet they’re freeing up funds to buy a big one this summer – Erling Haaland or Harry Kane.”
It’s the way we all have come to second-guess how those in charge operate.
There’s a small market for the kind of top-quality strikers even Manchester City could purchase.
So it was a surprise to see boss
Pep Guardiola make a statement that even his own club has suffered through the pandemic – and that they won’t be heading into the market for a big-money replacement.
“Look, with these prices, we cannot afford any striker, it’s impossible,” said the Catalan ahead of yesterday’s trip to Leicester.
There is no way in the world that Manchester
City’s chief would be making such public statements without having been briefed by those above him. ‘Who’s coming in?’ is an obvious question to ask a manager in charge of one of the Premier League’s elite.
And even in an industry where lying is commonplace, the manager’s credibility would be shot through if his own boss Txiki Begiristain looked under the floorboards and suddenly found a spare £250million knocking about. That’s the kind of financial commitment we’d be talking about to land Kane (left, middle) or Haaland (left, top) – salaries have to be taken into account, too.
It’s a monstrous outlay – but those who think the decision would have been arrived at last week are living in a dreamworld.
Guardiola (left, bottom), Begiristain – and Aguero himself – would have known that his stay was coming to an end.
Injury issues plagued the Argentine for a couple of seasons. And three goals in 14 games this season hints that the only real decision to make was the timing of the announcement. It has led to a lot of debate about whether the club is not going to be able to challenge next term.
Really? City are currently priced at 6-1 to win the Quadruple in a season when Aguero’s influence has been minimal.
Pep has used a false nine to stunning effect as others, such as Ilkay Gundogan, have stepped up.
Guardiola already has one clean sweep of domestic trophies under his belt and to come within eight weeks of winning the lot is a truly remarkable feat.
There will be a plan. It might not be to spend tens of millions. But something will be in place.
And if Pep says the club won’t sell the family silver to find Sergio Mark II, then surely he has earned the right to be trusted.