With much speculation surrounding the interest in Sergio Aguero from Real Madrid and Barcelona, and further interest from Dortmund for Edin Dzeko, I wanted to take a look at the partnerships between these Man City strikers to see if they could be replaced.

The strike partnerships

An interesting article from Talksport highlighted some stats comparing all the strike partnerships available that have played together (not including Balotelli). The highlighted stats are:

Aguero & Tevez – 9 games together, 7 wins. There have been 1.89 average goals per game with 2.44 average points per game.

Dzeko & Tevez – 6 games together, 3 wins. There have been 1.33 average goals per game with 1.83 average points per game.

Dzeko & Aguero – 6 games together, 2 wins. There have been 1.83 average goals per game with 1.5 average points per game.

Although it is hard to get the true reflection of a game simply by looking at these statistics, they do still tell a story. Aguero & Tevez, the much hyped Argentine strike combo, have the greatest number of goals per game, wins and points per game in comparison with any Dzeko partnership. So why did Mancini not play them together more often?

I think that Dzeko is a fantastic player. I know he has had his critics (me included at one point) but I think he has great aerial ability, he can hold the ball up well and he takes his chances in a 1-on-1 scenario. When you look at his goal scoring stats, kindly taken from bitter and blue, Dzeko has 6 goals in 1153 minutes as a starter (0.46 goals per game) and 5 goals in 198 minutes as a substitute (a whopping 2.27 goals per 90 minutes). Based on these stats he is the most prolific striker at Manchester City.

The issue lies with his ability to form a formidable partnership. As the blue banter alluded to in their recent post, Dzeko likes to take centre stage in the partnership, which can then hinder the stats for his strike partner. When Aguero & Dzeko play together it forces Aguero to play a deeper role just behind Dzeko. However, as City fans will know, Aguero is at his best when he is running in behind the defence and getting them on the turn, which is extremely difficult when playing in that deeper pocket behind the top striker. Maybe this is why the partnership between the two Argentines works so well, because Tevez thrives on running around in that pocket, picking the ball up and having a run at defenders, drawing them out and thus providing Aguero with the space he needs for his runs.

A replacement amid transfer speculation

So what does Mancini need to do? Well, in an ideal world where everyone will be happy at the club, Manchester City should be starting with the dynamic Argentine duo, and then using Dzeko as a prolific super sub (I know he absolutely hates that term but he isn’t going to read this now is he). However, he has already stated that he is not happy about his situation with regards to first team football, so Man City may well need to look for a replacement.

Should this replacement be a big money transfer? No. In my opinion City need to look closer to home and bring John Guidetti into the frame. He is great in the air, something which I feel City lack when Tevez & Aguero are both on, and has a great goalscoring ability about him, which he proved at Feyenoord where he scored 20 goals in 23 games. At nearly 21 years old he has had some great experience in a number of leagues, but City have never really provided him with significant playing time due to the quality and depth of the strike force. Now is the time for Mancini to show some faith in the young talented players at his disposal.

The question still remains, what if Aguero were to leave? Well I believe that Aguero is one of the best strikers in the world, and it would be incredibly difficult to replace him. City are linked with a number of top quality forward such as Edison Cavani and Neymar, but none who have the experience that Aguero has and none who have the same technical ability.

It would be a huge loss for any striker to leave the club, but some players are simply irreplaceable. Let me know your views on the striker scenario at City and who Mancini should keep his eye on if any forward were to leave.