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LEICESTER, England – The day before Manchester City moved three points closer to the Premier League title with a 2-0 win at Leicester, Pep Guardiola made the rest of football breathe a sigh of relief when he said his club can’t afford sign a world-class forward to replace outgoing Sergio Agüero.
Frankly, if Erling Haaland or Harry Kane don’t wear a City jersey next season, the rest could still have a chance. Time will tell if Guardiola gave a genuine reflection of his reluctance to break the bank for players like the star forward Borussia Dortmund or Tottenham, or if the comments were tactical and designed to distract his rivals in the transfer market.
But whatever Guardiola’s intentions, the general feeling of fans around the world would have been: “Who are you trying to kid?” Make no mistake, it would be a gamble by City if they haven’t signed a proven scorer by the time next season rolls around. And that’s whether or not they can attract Lionel Messi to Manchester.
If Haaland or Kane are available, they will almost certainly accept offers of more than £ 150 million for either of them before their current clubs even consider a deal, so the city manager’s insistence that the economic impact of The COVID-19 pandemic has put them out of the running may be rooted in cold reality.
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Although the victory at the King Power Stadium moved the elected champion 17 points ahead of second place, Manchester United (which has two games in hand) and four victories to seal the title, another reality stood out: although the City might not be able to afford Haaland or Kane, they really can’t afford no sign a forward of such caliber.
Former United striker Romelu Lukaku, who now scores regularly at Inter, and Eintracht Frankfurt’s Andre Silva, whose winning header boosted his team’s Champions League hopes at the expense of Dortmund on Saturday, have also been linked to a move to the Etihad Stadium, maybe at least. Pricey options than A-lists like Haaland and Kane.
Guardiola made clear on Friday that his team is fighting for four major trophies, despite Aguero being unavailable for much of the campaign due to injury and a COVID-19 recovery period. City have played a false nine on several occasions and Gabriel Jesús has been overlooked many times, even when Agüero has been out of action.
Aguero is City’s record scorer with 257 goals, but the 32-year-old’s injury problems mean that he cannot be considered as prolific as before. Jesus, meanwhile, is simply not an elite striker. The Brazilian international is hard-working and fast, but he doesn’t score enough goals, especially in a team that creates so many chances.
Gabriel Jesús doesn’t have what it takes to replace Sergio Agüero, so City must sign a new striker. Getty
Despite the lack of a reliable striker, City have dispelled the old convention of needing a 20-goal striker to win a title: Agüero has played the role for more seasons since his arrival from Atlético Madrid in 2011, but has only one. in the league. this season, while Jesus’ account at Leicester was their eighth, and they have swept the competition in England to get closer to a fifth title in 10 seasons.
But while Ilkay Gundogan is the league’s top scorer at 12, can City win with the same formula next season, without a focal point in their attack? Maybe, but imagine how formidable they would be if they added a Kane or a Haaland to the team.
Saturday’s victory was set up by another unlikely source, as a second-half goal from left-back Benjamin Mendy opened the scoring (Jesus secured the points in 74 minutes) and has become a trend for defenders or midfielders of Guardiola, rather. that forward, to make the breakthrough in recent weeks.
Since a 1-0 win at Arsenal in February, an attacking player, Raheem Sterling on that occasion, has not scored the decisive goal. Instead, it has been a season in which the winners of City matches have been players like Gundogan, Kevin De Bruyne and even John Stones.
“I am delighted at the way [Aguero] trained this week, nothing is going to change, Guardiola told Sky Sports after the game. “Maybe one day we need a goal to win something and he will be there.”
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The images that are played often this week of Agüero’s winning goal against QPR serve as a reminder that he could deliver in a great moment, just like Jesus when it matters most. But the duo have failed too often, which is why City must find a way to fund a move for Haaland or Kane, or Lukaku or Silva.
Agüero signed for £ 38m from Atlético de Madrid and, 10 years later, such a large outlay at that time has been repaid many times over. There may not be a similar performance for Kane, who turns 28 this summer, but £ 150 million for 20-year-old Haaland could turn out to be a bargain.
Although City’s team of the day in Leicester cost a total of £ 789 million, his record signing is a relatively modest £ 64.3 million for Ruben Dias, so perhaps Guardiola is right and future champions will not contemplate breaking the record. 100 million pound barrier to sign any player.
However, there are plenty of good footballing reasons for them to do so, both to raise their hopes for greater success and to provide a nightmare scenario for their rivals.
Source: espn.co.uk
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