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Sergio Aguero scored his 25th goal in 35 appearances this season, rescued a point for Manchester City and demonstrated exactly why his future under Pep Guardiola remains so uncertain.

The Argentine is a goal machine.

And if he leaves the Etihad this summer, the giants of European football will be falling over themselves to make him the most expensive departure in City’s history.

The club’s hierarchy have long-believed they can demand more than the £85m Real Madrid paid for Gareth Bale if Aguero goes.

But even at a fee closer to £50m, he may just go with

There is a fine line between success and failure - and at the level Guardiola operates at, there is no room for error.

It’s all about boxes, according to the former Barcelona and Bayern Munich manager.

And at his previous clubs players like Lionel Messi, Robert Lewandowski and Arjen Robben rarely took a mis-step.

But after another game where Aguero might have walked off with the match ball and more, the Argentine summed up Guardiola’s greatest frustration at City.

The Catalan dropped to his knees and slammed his hands on the turf as another chance went begging against Liverpool.

On this occasion it was a volley from Aguero, sent sailing over the bar late on. It was the last in a succession of chances that fell to the 28-year-old.

As Jurgen Klopp put it: "Sergio Aguero. In the six-yard box. In the sky. That happens not too often."

Actually, it's happening with increasing regularity.

Other chances came and went in and around his 69th-minute equaliser, which drew City level after James Milner’s penalty early in the second half.

There was a slip six-yards out, a wayward header, another effort fired off target.

It's case of splitting hairs and most managers would give their right arm to have Aguero lead their attack.

But Guardiola is not most managers.

He has constructed a side that creates a conveyor belt of chances, fewer goals and fewer points too.

And for all of Aguero’s enduring brilliance, this is the first season English football has seen him presented with so many golden opportunities.

Increasingly it is not a case of the number of goals he scores - rather how many he fails to convert.

In the past week alone, he might have had five or six more to add to his account - considering the two gilt-edged chances that were squandered as City crashed out of the Champions League to Monaco.

For all of Guardiola’s insistance that his striker needs to play at a higher intensity outside of the box, it is his wastefulness in it that could ultimately cost him.

Under Guardiola he is becoming a ‘one in three’ striker - rather than the ruthless assassin he's come to be known since his arrival at City in 2011.

Guardiola is honest enough to say there is nothing he teach Aguero: “I scored 11 goals. One goal a year. Can you imagine the advice I say to Aguero?"

It was said in jest - but it is no laughing matter.

And in that comment, Aguero’s fate may have been sealed.