AGUERO IS FEELING SNUBBED OVER A LACK OF GAME TIME
SERGIO AGUERO fears his Manchester City career is being allowed to fizzle out and is frustrated by a lack of clarity around his future. Aguero, the greatest scorer in City’s history and the man whose goal delivered the club’s breakthrough Premier League triumph in 2012, is out of contract in June, along with another long-serving key man Fernandinho. City manager Pep Guardiola said earlier this week that he could not think about making decisions on new contracts for either Aguero or Fernandinho as he does not want to become ‘distracted’ while he is trying to win four trophies. Sportsmail understands, though, that Aguero has become increasingly disillusioned by the way Guardiola has used him through the course of this season, particularly in recent weeks when he has been fully fit — having recovered from Covid-19 in January — and is anxious to start. The Argentine had hoped to be in Guardiola’s team to face Southampton on Wednesday but remained on the bench until the 72nd minute. He has only started four times during this disrupted campaign, the last of which came at the Etihad Stadium against West Ham on February 27. Aguero missed four weeks in the autumn, having damaged his hamstring in the first meeting against David Moyes’ side on October 24. But since returning from the bench against Olympiakos in the Champions League on November 23, he has played just 171 minutes.
It has led the striker to believe Guardiola has already made a decision. City insist that is not the case and they are adamant Aguero’s outstanding achievements in the past decade — he has scored 254 goals since his £35million move from Atletico Madrid — entitle him to leave on his own terms. Guardiola said on Tuesday: ‘We have to be calm. The club will speak to his agent.’ Signing a marquee striker in the next window will be a priority for City. The club’s technical staff are firm admirers of Joao Felix, Atletico Madrid’s outstanding young forward — and Aguero, remarkably, is without a goal in the Premier League since January 21, 2020. But he is irritated he is not getting opportunities to change that anomaly. Guardiola’s argument is that Aguero is not physically at the right level to complete 90 minutes consistently and the tension around games during the title run-in means this is not the moment to ease players in. Aguero overcame a difficult first 12 months with Guardiola in season 2016-17 — particularly when he had a spell in and out of the side shortly after Gabriel Jesus had been signed — but he made tweaks to his game and became City’s talisman. But there are some parallels in that Guardiola is not reliant on City’s No10 and it is likely Aguero will seek talks with his boss.