Manchester City planning to replace one of their mainstays

A very noticeable feature of the recent success of Manchester City in the league has been a lack of central striker in their starting 11. With Sergio Aguero has been troubled by injuries this season and Gabriel Jesus has been on and off the starting 11, the central role has rotated between Raheem Sterling, Riyadh Mahrez, or Phil Foden, Pep Guardiola rotating his line-up according to the opposition. Even Ilkay Gundogan has been playing as a false 9, being able to rack up goals regularly this season.

However, a very pertinent question hangs around Etihad- what is the future of Sergio Aguero? Aguero has been a Man City legend, having scored 180 goals for the Blues from Manchester in 268 appearances.

The 32-year is the-old is the highest scorer among all overseas players to play in the Premier League. However, niggling injuries and the fact that Aguero is not growing any younger has led the Board to think twice about putting a new contract on the table for the Argentine. Aguero is in his last six months of the contract and can talk to other clubs for a pre-contract agreement for next summer.

According to David Ornstein from The Athletic,

"The 32-year-old is thought to be a potential target for Paris Saint-Germain coach Mauricio Pochettino, a fellow Argentinian, while some candidates for the Barcelona presidency are said to view Aguero as an acquisition that could encourage Lionel Messi to remain at the Nou Camp."

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With a lot of planning going on, Man City is eyeing up Romelu Lukaku from Inter Milan and Danny Ings from Southampton as a possible replacement for Aguero.

Danny Ings has been in the form of his life after moving to Southampton from Liverpool for 20 Million in 2019. Having scored 32 goals in 61 appearances since joining Southampton, the 28-year-old has found himself on the radar of Gareth Southgate again.

He has also fully recovered from the persistent knee problems and his homegrown status is something which Man City could benefit from.

Romelu Lukaku is another candidate that City is considering. He has been in good form since joining Inter Milan from Manchester United, scoring 54 goals from 78 appearances.

One might argue that Lukaku isn’t the typical Pep Guardiola player but his physicality and his positional prowess in front of goal is something which is highly admired in Etihad. His experience in Premier League would come in handy as well. It is also understood that his previous association with the city rivals won’t be a concern.

However, Ornstein also reports that all the discussions are in a preliminary stage at the moment, with Aguero waiting on the wings to learn about the plans for him at the club. All in all, we might expect the new arrival of a striker at the Etihad this summer.