Man City boss Pep Guardiola has confirmed that Sergio Aguero will miss his side’s clash with Tottenham this weekend, while aiming a dig at Ashley Young.
Aguero has been struggling with a knee injury for weeks which has had a negative impact on City’s season as they’ve crashed out of the Champions League and seen their Premier League title celebrations put on hold.
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The 29-year-old has bagged 30 goals in 39 appearances so far this season to establish himself as a fundamental piece in City’s successful run, but without him, they have missed a key element of their play.
Guardiola spoke to the media on Friday, and reflecting back on Young’s tackle in the Manchester derby last weekend which risked giving away a penalty, the Spanish tactician has cited it as inflicting a setback in Aguero’s recovery from injury.
“Aguero is not ready. I don’t know [when he will return],” Guardiola is quoted as saying by The Sun. “We cannot forget he was injured for one month.
“He made a huge effort [to play against Liverpool], because after the Ashley Young tackle… he could not train.”
City have six league games remaining this season, and should they fail to beat Tottenham, their next chance to wrap up their second piece of silverware this season will come against Swansea City at the Etihad on April 22.
Guardiola will undoubtedly hope to have Aguero back by then in order to complete the job, while Argentina coach Jorge Sampaoli will also be keeping a watchful eye on developments with the World Cup in Russia this summer firmly at the front of his mind.
Along with Lionel Messi, Aguero sat out Argentina’s recently friendly in Manchester against Italy, and while that win was followed by a drubbing from Spain, the Albiceleste will be desperate to have their key duo fit for the summer.