Sergio Aguero is ‘irreplaceable’ for Manchester City, says Pep Guardiola

George Flood31 March 2021

Pep Guardiola has paid tribute to Sergio Aguero ahead of his Manchester City exit, calling the Argentine “irreplaceable” but insisting that he still has a key role to play before the end of the season.

On Monday, the Premier League leaders announced that their record goalscorer would be departing the Etihad Stadium after 10 years following the expiration of his contract this summer, with plans for a statue to be erected outside the ground in his honour.

Aguero is a legendary figure at City, having netted 257 goals in 384 total appearances across all competitions since his £38million transfer from Atletico Madrid in 2011, including that iconic winner against QPR in 2012 that sealed the club’s first top-flight title for 44 years.

Addressing Aguero’s impending exit, City boss Guardiola told Sky Sports: “Sergio is irreplaceable. I could say in terms of numbers he can be replaceable, it's not easy when you see more than 360 games played and more than 250 goals, the amount of titles...

"So it's the legend, the best striker this club has ever had for this century through the years, but is irreplaceable in the souls, in the hearts, in the minds of our fans, of our people, of the players that played alongside him and all the managers who worked with him.

"We were so lucky, the guys who came after him - me as a manager for example. We took over the club and he was one of the guys like Joe Hart, Pablo Zabaleta, Vincent Kompany, David Silva, many players helped this club make a step forward and of course he was one of them.

"He helped us find a club organisation in a higher level. When he came here the club was in one level, and he helped to put the club in a higher level. And that's why all the people are still here, and of course the fans always will be grateful.

"Without them, what we achieved in the past four or five years would not be possible, that's for sure.”

Aguero has won a plethora of silverware during his decade-long stint at City, including four Premier League titles, the FA Cup, five League Cups and three Community Shields.

That number of major trophies could be set to significantly increase in his final season at the club, who boast a commanding 14-point lead at the League summit with only eight games remaining and are also through to the quarter-finals of the Champions League and the semi-finals of the FA Cup as well as meeting Tottenham in the Carabao Cup Final at Wembley next month.

Aguero has only scored three times in 14 outings during a disappointing campaign to date, though Guardiola is still expecting him to play a prominent role in the weeks ahead as dominant City fight for glory on four fronts.

"I think he still has interesting goals to score this season,” Guardiola said.

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