Guardiola uses break to consider Aguero future
Pep Guardiola plans to give more thought to Sergio Aguero’s future at Manchester City during the international break, but has warned the Argentina striker that he cannot guarantee him playing time over the remainder of the season.
Aguero has barely played for a year now because of a succession of injuries and coronavirus problems, and is out of contract in June, when he will turn 33. City are keen to sign a striker this summer and are hoping to beat leading rivals to the capture of Erling Haaland should Borussia Dortmund cash in on the Norwegian.
The Premier League leaders have also been linked with Lionel Messi, even if Joan Laporta’s election as Barcelona’s new president appears to have increased the prospect of the Argentina forward, a close friend of Aguero, staying at the Nou Camp. Aguero has been talked about as a potential target for Barcelona, for whom the lack of a transfer fee would appeal greatly given the Catalan club’s financial crisis.
Neither City nor Aguero are ruling out the player staying at the Etihad Stadium as he nears a decade at the club, but Guardiola said he was still unsure what the future would hold. Fernandinho, the veteran Brazil midfielder who will be 36 in May, also faces an uncertain future.
“We’re going to see. Now is coming the best two or three months [of the season] and we will decide not just on him,” Guardiola said ahead of tonight’s game with Southampton.
“Players will maybe leave or go on loan, maybe players from the academy will come up, maybe we are going to buy players. We’re going to decide at the end of the season.
“Now, I could tell you an answer but I don’t know what is going to happen, because in my mind right now I am far away from thinking about what is going to happen next season or the players that will be here. I am concerned with what we are playing for. We work a lot, too much, like all the clubs, to be in this position and now I don’t want to be distracted.
“If I am distracted, the players will feel I am distracted and I have to be incredibly focused for the next game and Fulham and the Champions League and the [FA Cup quarter] final at Goodison Park [against Everton]. Maybe I will think about it [Aguero’s future] when the international break starts and I have more time.”
Guardiola said Aguero could be involved against Southampton as City bid to bounce back from Sunday’s 2-0 derby defeat by Manchester United, who ended their rivals’ 21-match winning streak. But he said he could not guarantee Aguero much playing time over the remaining few months of the campaign.
The Argentine has made just five starts for City since football went into lockdown last March, having undergone knee surgery in June and then suffered further injury complications and been forced to self-isolate after contracting coronavirus.
Guardiola, when asked if he would like Aguero to stay longer, said: “As a human and as a person, even as a player, of course. But we have to see what happens at the end of the season. We cannot forget how long he was out. I know he needs minutes to get to his best condition but we are not maybe in the moment to give him minutes for minutes’ [sake] because it is an important part of the season.
“We have to be calm, the club will speak to his agent to know the situation and we are going to talk at the end of the season. It’s the same with Fernandinho.”