Pep Guardiola admits Man City lack ‘weapon’ like Ronaldo

Pep Guardiola says he
will not complain about the star-studded squad at his disposal despite
admitting Manchester City have to sign a prolific striker in the coming years
to succeed Sergio Aguero.

City’s bid to land England captain Harry Kane failed in the
transfer window, with Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy not willing to let his
prized forward go.

Aguero left for Barcelona at the end of last season as
City’s all-time record goalscorer and has not been replaced.

Instead, the Premier League champions broke the English
transfer record in signing Jack Grealish for £100 million ($137 million) to add
to an already glittering array of attacking midfield options for Guardiola.

Without a number nine, it has been feast or famine in front
of goal for City so far this season.

They hit five past Norwich and Arsenal, going one better
against Leipzig in their Champions League opener and when Wycombe visited the
Etihad in the League Cup in midweek.

But they find themselves three points behind Premier League
leaders Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United after failing to score in a
0-0 draw with Southampton last weekend and a 1-0 defeat at Tottenham on the
opening weekend of the season.

Guardiola rejected suggestions he prefers to operate without
a centre-forward.

“Always I had strikers in my career,” Guardiola
said ahead of Saturday’s trip to Chelsea.

“Like goalkeepers, strikers are the biggest specialist
position. I played with Samuel Eto’o, Thierry Henry, (Lionel) Messi, (Robert)
Lewandowski, Thomas Mueller, Sergio for a few years here.

“The club needs in the next years a striker. When it’s
not possible, it’s not possible, we move on with the fantastic squad we
have.”

Chelsea and United have both added prolific goalscorers —
with Romelu Lukaku returning to Stamford Bridge and Cristiano Ronaldo arriving
back at Old Trafford . Both players have scored four times for their new clubs.

Guardiola does not expect any of his players to individually
match the two top-scorers in Serie A last season, but believes City can compete
as a collective.

City have been top-scorers in the Premier League for each of
the past four seasons.

“Strikers are strikers, but they are the most difficult
players to take (from other clubs),” said Guardiola.

“We were privileged to have Sergio for many years.
Unfortunately he was out injured last season and we survived without him. With
him we knew we had something extra.

“We have two options: complaining or working with the
exceptional players we have.

“We don’t have this weapon like United, Chelsea or
Tottenham. We don’t have the player to score 25 goals, we have to do it as a
team.”

Article source: https://www.samaa.tv/sports/football/2021/09/pep-guardiola-admits-man-city-lack-weapon-like-ronaldo/