Sergio Aguero has emphasised he is “very happy” at Manchester City under Pep Guardiola and played down the suggestion he could move to Real Madrid.
There have been questions over the striker’s future after City boss Guardiola left him out of the starting XI for successive matches in October against Everton and Barcelona.
That was interpreted in some quarters as an indication of a lukewarm attitude from the manager towards the Argentina international.
But having restored Aguero to his starting line-up, Guardiola last month reasserted his faith in him, calling him a “special player” who he hopes “can stay for a long time”.
Aguero was this week quoted as telling ESPN FC Radio in Argentina: “There’s long been rumours about Real Madrid but the truth is that I’m very happy at City, especially with the arrival of Pep.”
The 28-year-old stressed how positive his relationship with Guardiola has been since the Spaniard’s appointment over the summer as he reiterated his desire to rejoin his first club Independiente when his City contract runs out.
Of Guardiola, Aguero said: “He’s helping me a lot to grow as a player and we speak a lot. I’m happy at City and I hope to finish my contract and return to Independiente.”
Aguero is currently contracted to the Premier League club until 2019. In September, Guardiola said he thought the player would sign an extension, although no such deal has been announced.
The back-to-back games Aguero was dropped for at City came straight after an international break, in which the second of two appearances he made for Argentina saw him miss a penalty as his side were beaten 1-0 at home by Paraguay.
Aguero admits he returned to City after that break down about how things had gone with his national team, and he feels Guardiola handled the situation well.
He said: “Now I’m happy for how things are currently going for me.
“But after the last game with Argentina, I wasn’t in a great mood because of the defeat, because of the game, for how I played.
“I was down on myself. The first few days afterwards I was very down and to be honest Pep helped me quite a lot.Sergio Aguero – settled at City.