Will Sergio Aguero be leaving Manchester City this summer?

Manchester City striker Sergio Aguero has become accustomed to life on the Citizens bench in recent games

According to Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola, he does not know if Argentinian striker Sergio Aguero will be at the club at the end of the season.

City favourite Aguero has found himself relegated to the bench in recent games, as Brazilian starlet Gabriel Jesus has been preferred in the lone striker role.

It is the signing and early performances of the young Brazilian that has fuelled the rumours about Aguero leaving the club in the near future.

However, it is very early days in Jesus’ career in England. It is too early to say the 19-year-old is the long-term replacement for Aguero.

Guardiola casts down over Aguero’s future

When asked if Aguero would be a City player next season, Guardiola said: “At the end of the season I don’t know. I know how difficult it is to find top goalscorers. I would like him to stay but I don’t know what is going to happen. Even in my career, I didn’t know what would happen at the end of the season. I was clear every time we spoke with Sergio from the beginning. I know his strengths.”

The former Barcelona boss also stated that he does not wish to sell the striker in the summer. He also went on to say it would be Aguero decision on leaving. That sounds like he is unsure that he wants the striker around anymore. If he did, then he would not be saying its Aguero’s decision.

Aguero still a top striker          

Sergio Aguero started the campaign in sparkling form and it looked like he would thrive under Guardiola’s management. However, in the last few months, he has struggled to find the net and seems to have lost some of his spark. There have been question marks about Aguero’s future ever since the appointment of Guardiola as City boss.

He is not considered Guardiola’s archetypal striker. He is a prolific striker and works hard. However, apart from scoring goals he does not really get involved in the build-up play that much. It seems those initial views about Guardiola and Aguero not being a good fit were right.

Despite not being Guardiola’s ideal striker, Aguero will go down as one of the best strikers the Premier League has ever seen. The Argentinian has scored 154 goals for the Citizens since joining in 2011 from Atletico Madrid.

This season he has found the net 11 times in 18 Premier League appearances this season, so it has not been a disastrous campaign for Aguero. The striker has not been in top form of late though and the arrival of Jesus has seen the striker relegated to the bench.

If Aguero did become available in the summer, there would be a long queue of clubs wanting to sign him. Even Premier League rivals Chelsea and Arsenal have been linked with moves for the striker, despite a mooted fee of around £80million.

Aguero has been linked with a return to Spain with Real Madrid in the past. It would be very surprising if the European champions did not still hold an interest in Aguero’s situation.

Set to be benched again at Bournemouth

Manchester City have an away game at Bournemouth tonight, a game which they are favourites to win at odds of 4/9. Aguero is once again set to start the game on the bench. Jesus will be supported by the likes of Leroy Sane and Raheem Sterling on the wings.

The two wingers have been in decent form of late. Guardiola has also said that Aguero will start when one of his forward players form dips. That makes it sound like Aguero is now regarded as a backup player. It also sounds like he is well and truly behind Jesus in the pecking order, despite the youngster having only made three appearances in the top-flight.

The youngster is highly rated and has impressed so far. However, is his promise enough just to discard one of the best strikers the Premier League has ever seen? At the moment Guardiola seems to think so. If the Argentinian continues to be benched I can see Aguero leaving in the summer.

Pep Guardiola has never been scared to shake things up by selling big names. At City, there are few that come bigger than Sergio Aguero. The Argentine is unlikely to be willing to play second fiddle to Jesus and may well be plying his trade elsewhere next season.

Will Sergio Aguero be leaving Manchester City this summer?