Pep Guardiola has said he will not force Sergio Aguero out of Manchester City, insisting the striker will only leave the club if he chooses to.
Aguero was surprisingly omitted from City’s starting XI for Wednesday’s 4-0 Uefa Champions League defeat to Barcelona but Guardiola is adamant his 11-goal top scorer has a future at the Etihad Stadium.
Guardiola has loaned goalkeeper Joe Hart to Torino and left midfielder Yaya Toure out of the Champions League squad but the Catalan said he does not intend to make Aguero, scorer of 147 City goals, and club captain Vincent Kompany part of a clearout of big names.
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“When Sergio decides to leave Manchester City, it will be his decision. I appreciate him like a football player and like a man what he did here,” Guardiola said. “You can call me before you decide he is not in my plans.”
While Aguero was benched in what Guardiola said was a tactical decision, Kompany was not even named on the bench in the Camp Nou, prompting speculation about his future.
But Guardiola revealed the defender, who has only started one game in his reign, had ruled himself out as he said he is looking forward to working with the injury-prone Belgian.
“I saw him when he is fit, he is a real central defender,” the City manager said. “I like him. It was him [who made the decision]. He went to the doctors and said: ‘I am not able to play’.
“I explain always the truth. My [only] decision was Sergio Aguero. We lost 4-0. You want a guilty [person]? I am guilty. We win in Barcelona? I am a genius.”
Guardiola defended goalkeeper Claudio Bravo, who was sent off after trying to pass out from the back.
“The decision was not wrong in that moment but the action [he chose], he did not pass good,” Guardiola said.
The Catalan is adamant he will not change his expansive style of play, pointing to his track record of winning trophies as evidence his way is the right way.
“I think about [changing] but after that the solution is not better than what I believe,” he said. “In seven years, I won 21 titles, so it is three titles a year playing in that way. But if you believe I am going to win 4-0 at the Camp Nou, no, I am good but not that.
“Against Everton, one of my friends Ronald Koeman said he never faced a team playing football like Manchester City. That is the best compliment I can receive.”
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