Another landmark beckons for Manchester City’s greatest generation on Sunday. Sergio Aguero has 174 Premier League goals. Find the net once against Aston Villa and he draws level with Thierry Henry, twice and City’s record goalscorer becomes the most prolific foreigner in Premier League history. Meanwhile, David Silva continues his farewell tour of England with a final game at Villa Park before his summer departure. Vincent Kompany is already gone. Aguero could follow in 2021, along with Fernandinho.
“We cannot deny [what] all these names have been for this club,” said Pep Guardiola. “There are no doubts about that. Vinnie is unique and Sergio will be unique and David: this type of players are incredible.”
The trio won Premier League titles under three managers, predating Guardiola by performing for Roberto Mancini and Manuel Pellegrini. “I live my four years here with these guys,” the Catalan added. “I will be grateful for what they have done for me. In the past, they worked with Roberto, they worked with Manuel.”
Between them, the defender, the midfielder and the forward have made 1,134 City appearances, scoring 339 goals, 246 of them courtesy of Aguero. They amount to colossal contributions.
And yet, if each is irreplaceable in one respect, the challenge for City is to compensate for their eventual departures, to bridge from one outstanding team to another. It is something Guardiola’s former clubs, Barcelona and Bayern Munich, have done. It is something Liverpool and Manchester United have done when they sustained success. City have never managed it, however, and Guardiola recognises the need to marry tributes with an unsentimental analysis of how the serial trophy-winners transfer their affections to others. It is, he thinks, what the departing greats want.
“The club have the duty and obligation to find the best replacement for all of them, as quick as possible and [by] anticipating,” he added. “The big clubs move on. People arrive and people leave. The fans stay at the club with their love for the club. We can’t say: ‘Oh, what happened with Mike Summerbee?’ Because one day he retires.”
Summerbee, a stalwart of Joe Mercer’s magnificent team, left in 1975. City won the League Cup the following season, but it was their final trophy for 35 years. If a failure to recruit players of the calibre of Summerbee, Francis Lee and Colin Bell, amid some transfer-market missteps, was one reason why City slid from grace in the past, Guardiola is determined to ensure history does not repeat itself by finding worthy successors. “We have to try to find them or build them from here,” he added. “This is our obligation as a club. I think the players want us to move on.”
In one position, at least, City will find the answer within. Phil Foden is Silva's designated heir. "David is going to leave and we are not going to buy any player in his position because we have Phil," Guardiola added. "We trust Phil. If with we didn't believe in him we might go to the market to replace David, but we have Phil." City's future planning extends beyond a teenager, with Kevin de Bruyne, Ilkay Gundogan and Bernardo Silva offering competition for the midfield spots. "Maybe he has to fight with Kevin, Gundo and Bernardo to play in that position," Guardiola added. "When the quality is there, like with Phil, it is there."
The label of the new Silva, however, sits uneasily with a manager who has noticed a propensity to burden emerging players with unhelpful comparisons. “We have the tendency with all the new guys that after two games [to say] he will be the new [Wayne] Rooney or the new George Best or the new David Beckham,” he said. “I think it is time to make them believe this is difficult.”
At least today City can savour the current Aguero before worrying how someone else will fare with the pressure of being the next Aguero.
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
More on animal trafficking
What is a calorie?
A food calorie, or kilocalorie, is a measure of nutritional energy generated from what is consumed.
One calorie, is the amount of heat needed to raise the temperature of 1 kilogram of water by 1°C.
A kilocalorie represents a 1,000 true calories of energy.
Energy density figures are often quoted as calories per serving, with one gram of fat in food containing nine calories, and a gram of protein or carbohydrate providing about four.
Alcohol contains about seven calories a gram.
Infiniti QX80 specs
Engine: twin-turbocharged 3.5-liter V6
Power: 450hp
Torque: 700Nm
Price: From Dh450,000, Autograph model from Dh510,000
Available: Now
Terror attacks in Paris, November 13, 2015
- At 9.16pm, three suicide attackers killed one person outside the Atade de France during a foootball match between France and Germany
- At 9.25pm, three attackers opened fire on restaurants and cafes over 20 minutes, killing 39 people
- Shortly after 9.40pm, three other attackers launched a three-hour raid on the Bataclan, in which 1,500 people had gathered to watch a rock concert. In total, 90 people were killed
- Salah Abdeslam, the only survivor of the terrorists, did not directly participate in the attacks, thought to be due to a technical glitch in his suicide vest
- He fled to Belgium and was involved in attacks on Brussels in March 2016. He is serving a life sentence in France
MOUNTAINHEAD REVIEW
Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman
Director: Jesse Armstrong
Rating: 3.5/5
In-demand jobs and monthly salaries
- Technology expert in robotics and automation: Dh20,000 to Dh40,000
- Energy engineer: Dh25,000 to Dh30,000
- Production engineer: Dh30,000 to Dh40,000
- Data-driven supply chain management professional: Dh30,000 to Dh50,000
- HR leader: Dh40,000 to Dh60,000
- Engineering leader: Dh30,000 to Dh55,000
- Project manager: Dh55,000 to Dh65,000
- Senior reservoir engineer: Dh40,000 to Dh55,000
- Senior drilling engineer: Dh38,000 to Dh46,000
- Senior process engineer: Dh28,000 to Dh38,000
- Senior maintenance engineer: Dh22,000 to Dh34,000
- Field engineer: Dh6,500 to Dh7,500
- Field supervisor: Dh9,000 to Dh12,000
- Field operator: Dh5,000 to Dh7,000
More from Neighbourhood Watch
Ziina users can donate to relief efforts in Beirut
Ziina users will be able to use the app to help relief efforts in Beirut, which has been left reeling after an August blast caused an estimated $15 billion in damage and left thousands homeless. Ziina has partnered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to raise money for the Lebanese capital, co-founder Faisal Toukan says. “As of October 1, the UNHCR has the first certified badge on Ziina and is automatically part of user's top friends' list during this campaign. Users can now donate any amount to the Beirut relief with two clicks. The money raised will go towards rebuilding houses for the families that were impacted by the explosion.”
The specs
Engine: 1.6-litre 4-cyl turbo and dual electric motors
Power: 300hp at 6,000rpm
Torque: 520Nm at 1,500-3,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 8.0L/100km
Price: from Dh199,900
On sale: now
Scoreline
Abu Dhabi Harlequins 17
Jebel Ali Dragons 20
Harlequins Tries: Kinivilliame, Stevenson; Cons: Stevenson 2; Pen: Stevenson
Dragons Tries: Naisau, Fourie; Cons: Love 2; Pens: Love 2
In numbers: China in Dubai
The number of Chinese people living in Dubai: An estimated 200,000
Number of Chinese people in International City: Almost 50,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2018/19: 120,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2010: 20,000
Percentage increase in visitors in eight years: 500 per cent
Desert Warrior
Starring: Anthony Mackie, Aiysha Hart, Ben Kingsley
Director: Rupert Wyatt
Rating: 3/5
THE BIO: Martin Van Almsick
Hometown: Cologne, Germany
Family: Wife Hanan Ahmed and their three children, Marrah (23), Tibijan (19), Amon (13)
Favourite dessert: Umm Ali with dark camel milk chocolate flakes
Favourite hobby: Football
Breakfast routine: a tall glass of camel milk
