Guardiola issues Aguero injury update after striker misses Burnley blowout

1 month ago 1 second ago

Just when you were excited to see Sergio Aguero return to Manchester City and, perhaps, deliver the club a vintage striker…

Aguero, 32, is hurt again.

[ MORE: Three things from Man City 5-0 Burnley ]

The Argentine came off the bench for 12 minutes at midweek against Olympiacos in the Champions League, his first appearance in a month after the second of two absences through injury this season.

But he was absent from the Starting XI for Pep Guardiola in a 5-0 thrashing of Burnley on Saturday, and Guardiola delivered not terrible but still less than ideal news after the match.

“With Sergio it depends on how he wakes up. He made good training sessions but then had some niggles in his knee,” he said. “It is day-by-day and yesterday I decided not to select him because he needs training and this morning he woke up with a little problem in his knee and he could not train. We know that the injury that he had is not easy for the recovery and we have to handle it as well as possible and when he will be ready he will start to train with us and play.”

Aguero has 180 Premier League goals and 54 assists in 265 appearances for City, only thrice scoring less than 20 goals in a season over nine campaigns.

Guardiola raised some eyebrows early in his tenure at City when he said that the Argentine could find another level under his tutelage. How has that worked out?

Well — no disrespect to Pep — but about the same! And it underscores just how important Aguero is to City’s attack, that reliable finishing from a center forward perhaps the main reason they aren’t nearer to the top of the table this season.

Aguero in the Premier League pre-Pep

Matches: 115
Minutes: 8420
Goals: 78
Assists: 21
Minutes/goal: 107.94

Aguero in the Premier League under Pep

Matches: 150
Minutes: 10,992
Goals: 102
Assists: 33
Minutes/goal: 107.76

Follow @NicholasMendola

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