When Pep Guardiola took over at Manchester City last summer, one of the last players anyone would have expected him to drop was Sergio Aguero.

The prolific Argentine hitman has 118 Premier League goals in 174 appearances and has been one of the most dangerous strikers in the world during his time at the Etihad Stadium.

Still, Pep returned to Barcelona in the Champions League group stages and opted to play with a false nine at the Nou Camp rather than play with the threat of Aguero.

The former Atletico Madrid man looked all but certain to leave the club in the summer of 2017, especially when young Brazilian wonderkid Gabriel Jesus arrived in January and immediately started scoring.

However, the 20-year-old broke a bone in his foot back in February and the opportunity to lead the line fell to Aguero once more.

This time, he wasn't going to give Guardiola an excuse to drop him. Aguero has 10 goals in his last 10 matches and now finds himself on the right side of the boss.

Guardiola said: “He’s involved in the game more now. My feeling before was he was just waiting to score a goal.

“Now he’s involved in the game. Not just the defensive part — he’s helped us a lot — but he is doing all he can do to create chances.

“There are no complaints about what he has done after the injury for Gabriel Jesus.”

Guardiola was keen to stress that Aguero has not been a bad egg from the start, quite the opposite. The 28-year-old has always been a hard worker, he just wasn't working the way his manager wanted him to.

He said: “Sergio’s attitude was always good, from the beginning.

“Maybe now he understands better what we’re looking for.

“He’s trying and that is what I want. When he misses chances, always you can improve, but we’ve no complaints.”

Aguero remains one of the deadliest strikers on the planet and should he ever leave the blue half of Manchester, there would be a host of top European clubs ready to snap up his signature.

Next up for Aguero and City is Southampton away and a win for the Citizens is vital to their top four prospects.