Barcelona forward Sergio Aguero has elaborated on his relationship with Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola in a new interview in an attempt to clear the air after rumors had circulated consistently that things weren’t all that peachy between the two at the Etihad.
The Argentine striker concluded a highly-impressive ten-year spell at the Etihad Stadium with a summer switch to Catalonia, leaving City as the club’s all-time greatest goalscorer with 260 goals to his name.
However, disturbingly, the final five years of his legendary spell in Manchester had been a tad soured with press rumours that City boss Pep Guardiola believed that Aguero wasn’t suited to his unique style of play despite such rumors having been regularly rebuffed by both parties, who insisted instead that they enjoyed a good working relationship during their time together at City. Together, both coach and player had won a host of domestic silverware including three Premier League titles.
Four months after his free transfer to Barcelona, Aguero has stuck to the script and provided further insight into his relationship with Guardiola ahead of his new side’s league clash against Valencia at the weekend.
“No, I never had problems with (Pep) Guardiola. I never argued with him,” said the 33-year-old in a recent interview with Spanish newspaper El País.
“Yes, we had to clarify things. When he (Guardiola) arrived (in 2016), since we didn’t know each other, we had a bit of a trial run. The last three years (2018-2021) were fantastic – I have nothing to say”.
Aguero, soon to be immortalized with a statue outside the Etihad Stadium, elaborated on Guardiola’s approach to tactics and team selection.
“He (Guardiola) is a coach who always wants the maximum. If he has an idea for a match in his head, he does it. It doesn’t matter to him if he has to leave out the players who scored three goals in the last games,” the striker added.
“The name of the player doesn’t matter, unless it’s (Lionel) Messi. I always accepted when I was playing and when I wasn’t. Gabriel Jesus, upon landing in Manchester, began to play as a starter. I didn’t say anything.
“I had to keep working for when my time came. When Jesus was injured in a match against Bournemouth (in 2017), there were no other strikers, and I had to play. In those three months (during the 2016/17 campaign), I scored twenty goals, and gave Pep (Guardiola) the confidence he needed.”