Pep Guardiola assured Sergio Aguero that he remains a key figure at Manchester City.
The striker may have a felt a bit out of favour after Guardiola pursued Alexis Sanchez and Kylian Mbappe in a frantic summer but the former stayed put at Arsenal because they could not find a suitable replacement and the latter joined PSG in a massive deal.
The arrival of either forward would have created even more competition for places up front, with Aguero already having to accept he is no longer a guaranteed starter, following the arrival of Gabriel Jesus.
But Guardiola was adamant that the Argentinian will feature for most games of the season.
And he joked he would definitely start against Liverpool on Saturday after learning of the striker’s remarkable record against the Merseysiders.
Aguero has scored in each of Liverpool’s last five visits to the Etihad, prompting Guardiola to say: “I didn’t know that record, so now he’s going to play tomorrow!”
Guardiola has repeatedly claimed that his side lacks the cutting edge in the final third and he might go back for Alexis Sanchez in January but until then he will be hoping that Aguero and Gabriel Jesus provide them with enough firepower.
Aguero was dropped for the 2-1 victory over Bournemouth, however, Sterling’s red card means that he is in line for an immediate return to the starting lineup.
“I said many times, he’s going to play a lot of games, sometimes he’s not going to play,” said the City manager. “I know it’s something special when a player who’s never rotated is rotated.
“He’s going to play like last season – a lot, a lot of games.
“I think he played, when fit, maybe 90 per cent of the games, especially in the important games, he was always there.
“So maybe one day we decide we’ll only play with one striker, sometimes with Gabriel, sometimes with two.
“Sometimes we’ll play with neither, maybe Sergio and Gabriel won’t play and we’ll play a false nine. We will see.
“It depends on my ‘silly’ decisions.”
Pep Guardiola has an embarrassment of riches upfront with Sergio Aguero, Gabriel Jesus, Raheem Sterling, Leroy Sane, Bernardo Silva, Kevin De Bruyne and David Silva all being able to play in the attacking areas. Aguero will go all out to prove himself against an in-form Liverpool side whom the face when the Premier League returns to action on Saturday.
