Pablo Zabaleta expects Sergio Aguero to respond and return to Manchester City starting XI

Aguero remains City’s top scorer this season but has begun the past two games on bench after January arrival of Gabriel Jesus, but he will be back, says his Argentine teammate. Richard Jolly reports.

Sergio Aguero, left, Vincent Kompany and Pablo Zabaleta of Manchester City warm up before their Premier League match against Swansea City at Etihad Stadium on February 5. Alex Livesey / Getty Images

MANCHESTER // Pablo Zabaleta said Sergio Aguero has the maturity to cope with losing his place in the Manchester City side and that his friend has responded positively to the disappointment.

Aguero remains City’s top scorer this season but has begun the past two games on the bench after the January arrival of Gabriel Jesus, who scored both goals in Sunday’s 2-1 win over Swansea City that moved them to third in the Premier League table.

Zabaleta said City need the competition for places the Brazilian prodigy has given them if they are to secure silverware, with City still in the Uefa Champions League, FA Cup, and 10 points adrift of leaders Chelsea with 14 games to go in the league.

The rightback is a long-time teammate of Aguero for both City and Argentina and said: “He’s a mature guy. It’s not the first time he’s been dropped.

“Listen, years ago it was [Carlos] Tevez, [Mario] Balotelli, [Edin] Dzeko and ‘Kun’ [as the four strikers]. We need a strong squad to win titles.

“He’s fine. You saw when he came on against Swansea, he played really well.

“At the end of the day, football is like this — especially with the big squads, where you have more than one big player in each position. And of course, Sergio has been playing for most of the years as first choice.

“Now we have Gabriel Jesus, who played the last two games and did really well. I think it’s good to have two players with that quality.

“It’s always good to have healthy competition in the team: you know you have to perform well to keep your place in the team and that’s normal for the big squads.”

Gabriel Jesus began as a winger for Palmeiras before establishing himself as Brazil’s first-choice striker.

While Zabaleta is confident the newcomer and Aguero can team up well, he said City manager Pep Guardiola is likely to continuing choosing between them for the meantime.

“If the manager decides to try to play them both together, they could do that,” Zabaleta said.

“But we play in a 4-3-3 with one central striker and two wingers wide. That’s why probably at the moment one of them needs to play up front on his own.

“I heard Gabriel can play on the left. I’ve not seen him much in that position but probably he can play there.”

Zabaleta praised the 19-year-old for his stellar start to his City career, adding: “He’s having a good moment. It’s fantastic when you come to England and you score three goals in three games, two assists. Hopefully he can continue doing this.”

Aguero is not the only Argentine who has lost his place to a Brazilian with midfielder Fernandinho operating in Zabaleta’s usual role at rightback on Sunday.

“He was really good,” said Zabaleta, who was a late substitute as City recorded a third straight win. “For Pep it’s good to have different options. He likes to play with wingers, to get the ball wide, and sometimes you need people more inside. That’s good to have those options.”

Zabaleta’s reaction to seeing Fernandinho take his position may be an example to Aguero.

“We just need to think about the team,” he said.

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