Sergio Aguero to sign new Manchester City deal as Pep Guardiola effect begins to show
PEP GUARDIOLA’S Manchester City jigsaw is now starting to come together.
As Sergio Aguero became the latest piece to fall into place for the new Etihad boss, City fans are growing even more confident Guardiola is putting together a title-winning puzzle.
SunSport can reveal Aguero is poised to hand the Spaniard a huge pre-season boost by penning an extended contract at Manchester City.
It comes as City are increasingly confident they can entice PFA Player of the Year Riyad Mahrez to quit champions Leicester and join the Pep-olution.
Plus Everton have begun to accept the inevitability of having to sell England centre-back John Stones to City, with the Toffees already looking to secure a replacement before they green light his Etihad move.
Guardiola has already landed Germany midfielder Ilkay Gundogan, 25, for £20.4million.
The ex-Barcelona and Bayern Munich chief also added Spain forward Nolito to his squad for £13.8m, alongside Ukraine midfielder Oleksandr Zinchenko, 19, for £1.7m.
West Ham starlet Reece Oxford, 17, is also on Guardiola’s radar as he seeks to build for the future.
But it seems the summer of change is only getting started at the Etihad, with Guardiola attempting to stamp his blueprint over the club.
Next up in his in-tray is the new deal for Aguero, whose contract runs until 2019 — and who had hinted he would look to return to Argentina at that stage.
SunSport told you in February there had been talks over the possibility of a longer stay in England.
And Aguero has agreed a further 12 months at City — ensuring he is tied to the club until the summer of 2020, when he will be 32.
He earns around £150,000 a week basic but has significant performance- related bonuses, like many team-mates.
City hope to announce the news before their new Premier League campaign begins with a home game against Sunderland on August 13.
Guardiola knows all about Aguero from the hitman’s days in Spain with Atletico Madrid — and is delighted to now be working with him.
Aguero, 28, is currently on holiday after his involvement in the Copa America this summer.
However, he is due to link up with the City squad during their pre-season tour of China, which gets under way later this week.
The South American has enjoyed a blistering five years in England, scoring 136 goals for City already. And Aguero has stated that he wants to break the club’s goal-scoring record — held by Eric Brook on 177.
The negotiations with Aguero come as City also prepare to make a £33m bid for Mahrez.
That is likely to be rejected, with the Foxes slapping a price-tag of almost £50m on the Algerian.
And Leicester boss Claudio Ranieri is desperate to keep Mahrez after losing star midfielder N’Golo Kante to Chelsea in a £29m deal.
Leicester will not be tempted to sell forward Mahrez, 25, unless they receive an irresistible offer.
But he is stalling over signing a new contract worth £100,000 per week — allowing City and Guardiola to take advantage of Mahrez’s willingness to take on a new challenge.
The £35,000-a-week deal the Algerian signed last August runs for three more years — but while Leicester were able to keep Jamie Vardy after Arsenal triggered his £20m release clause, Mahrez appears more set on leaving.
So, too, does Stones, who has told new Everton supremo Farhad Moshiri he wants out of Merseyside.
Efforts to persuade the defender, 22, to stay have foundered and Moshiri will now sanction a £50m sale — but only when Everton have secured the services of a top-class replacement.
One man who has already made a surprise impact on Guardiola is Zinchenko, who is set to play a bigger role than expected this term.
He was a buy from Russian side Ufa — and was set to spend the season on loan at PSV to gain experience.
Yet he has already impressed Guardiola so much in just two weeks of pre-season training that he will now remain at the Etihad.
Guardiola is keen to work with Zinchenko, who played in all three of Ukraine’s group games at Euro 2016.
More Football News
While he was not initially expected to feature for the first team, he is now likely to get the odd run-out.
City have also completed a £4m deal for Argentine keeper Geronimo Rulli, although he will go to Real Sociedad on loan for 12 months.
The City hierarchy may not be demanding the title this season — but Guardiola has never targeted second.
Piece by piece, the picture is taking shape. For Pep, it is starting to get real.