Man City boss Manuel Pellegrini reveals he has admired Sergio Aguero for 11 years
Posted Sunday, November 30, 2014 by Dailystar.co.uk
Manuel Pellegrini last night revealed why he is so pleased to be managing Sergio Aguero - because he has wanted him for 11 years.
The Manchester City boss saw at first hand when he was a manager in Argentina, Aguero's exciting potential.
Now Pellegrini finally has him in his side and insists he and City have no intention of letting Aguero - hat-trick hero against Bayern Munich last Tuesday - leave The Etihad.
City's Chilean boss goes into today's top-of-the-table battle at Southampton revealing: "He was just starting as a 15 or 16-year-old at Independiente when I was at River Plate.
"From the beginning, everyone saw he would be a very good player, because it was not normal to see a player so young playing so well.
"After that we tried to buy him for Villarreal when I went there but Atletico Madrid bought him before us."
STAR: Sergio Aguero has been Man City's best player by far this season
"He was 18 then but he had started to make a difference in matches when he played for Independiente, then he went to Spain and made the difference for Atletico."
"And since he came to England he has continued doing that, as he is one of the important, top players."
Aguero is now established as one of the world's top stars and Pellegrini has given a hands-off warning to potential suitors like Real Madrid or PSG.
He said: "City is not a club that sells its players. It is a club that wants to buy good players as we want to improve and grow every year."
"Sergio is very happy here and has five or six years more of his contract. I don't think he will move but you never know what will happen in the future."
"Of course, everyone has a price but, at this moment, Sergio doesn't want to go and we don't want to sell him."
"The important thing is that he has a future where we will see an even better Sergio Aguero, because he is growing."
"He is still very young at 26. He has at least five more years at the top of his performance."
City go to second-placed Southampton with Pellegrini insisting leaders Chelsea ARE NOT out of sight in the title race.
He said: "Every time you beat an important team, the confidence of the squad rises. We have just beaten Bayern for the second time in a year, so that tells me we are not so bad in Europe."
"And I don't see why there is a perception that Chelsea will walk away with the title. I agree if Chelsea continue like this until the end of the season, they'll win the title."
TEAM: Sergio Aguero and his manager Manuel Pellegrini in action
"But you never know what will happen. This time last year, we were six points behind the leaders Arsenal and no one was talking about us but we won the title and Arsenal came fourth."
"I don't know how people can predict the future because I can't!"
Pellegrini, meanwhile, revealed on-loan Frank Lampard could stay at City "if all the parties agree."
The former Chelsea and England midfielder, 36, is on loan from City's newly-formed American club New York City.
Pellegrini hopes to keep Lampard until the beginning of March to cover for the absence of Yaya Toure at the African Cup of Nations with Ivory Coast.
Lampard could also return to City next season on another loan when the MLS programme in the USA is over.
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