Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola is said to be losing patience with star striker Sergio Aguero, and there are rumours of a growing rift between the player and manager.
The Argentine was left on the bench during City's loss to Barcelona on Wednesday, and it was initially thought that it was a tactical decision by the former Barcelona andBayern Munich coach. However, Spanish football expert Graham Hunter says he believes that tactics had nothing to do with it.
With the manager havingopted to play Kevin de Bruyne in a false nine role against his former club, rather than Aguero up front,Hunter sees it as a warning shot in the forward's direction.
Writing his column for theDaily Record, the journo highlighted three of the things which could be working against Aguero.
His recent string of missed penalties are believed to have seen him lose a bit of favour, but that was by no means deliberate.
The elbow on Winston Reid which earned him a three-match suspension is the total opposite, and wasn't beyond Aguero's control. There was a very important match against Manchester Unitedcoming up, and Guardiola was not ready to accept such folly on the player's part.
Then came the decision to risk his fitness by playing for Argentina when he wasn't near 100 per cent.
Hunter recalled an incident involving Arsenal forward Alexis Sanchez, who risked playing for Chile despite not being fully fit while Guardiola was still in charge of Barcelona.
The manager was left incensed after Sanchez limped off injured just minutes after coming on, and would engage in a war of words with the player while he was getting off the pitch.
At 28, Aguero is still one of the top marksmen in the world and he still has a lot to offer. Yet Guardiola is not very patient with players who put his victories at risk.
He still insists that the striker has a future at Manchester City, however.
"The next time before you give your opinion and decide Sergio is not in my plans you can call me," he said via theBBCin the wake of the 4-0 defeat.
"I appreciate him as a football player and as a man. When Sergio decides to leave Manchester City, it will be his decision."