Mancini: star duo can help Aguero
Aguero, the club’s record signing at £38m, made a sensational City debut on Monday night by coming off the bench to score twice and set up another.
The Argentina forward’s devastating performance, which began only when he was introduced in the 60th minute, propelled City to an emphatic 4-0 win over Swansea in their Barclays Premier League opener.
With Silva and Toure also impressing in the Etihad Stadium rout – and the prospect Aguero could also combine with Carlos Tevez and Mario Balotelli if the pair can be brought onside – City would appear genuine title contenders. Mancini said: “I think Sergio needs to play more with his team-mates to get better.
“We have incredible players like David Silva and Yaya, who speak the same language. I think he needs to improve with the team.”
Mancini added: “It was really important to start very well because United won — but it is always important to start the season well.”
Having played in the Copa America last month and started pre-season training late, Aguero was held back throughout last week’s Community Shield and for a further 60 minutes on Tuesday.
The former Atlético Madrid forward quickly set about making up for lost time and said: “I am happy. The start was really good and I want to keep like this.
“It was nice. I had a chance to play a little bit and I enjoyed it. I helped the team and I want to keep doing the same in the future.”
For Swansea, the match was a harsh introduction to the Premier League.
Yet manager Brendan Rodgers could still pick out a number of positives, not least the performance during a goalless first-half and the display of debutant ‘keeper Michel Vorm. The Dutchman, a £1.5million signing from Utrecht, pulled off a string of excellent stops including one world-class effort to deny Silva.
The Welsh side will now hope to build on that as they host the Wigan side of their former manager Roberto Martinez on Saturday.
Meanwhile UEFA’s financial fair play boss has revealed he has “some questions” about Manchester City’s sponsorship deal with Etihad Airways.
The Abu Dhabi government-owned airline, the club’s shirt sponsors, last month struck a new 10-year deal for stadium naming rights and to fund the proposed new Etihad Campus.
City did not disclose financial details but it was reported the agreement was worth £400million.
With Etihad having close links to City’s owner Sheikh Mansour, a member of the Abu Dhabi royal family, some critics have suggested this could be an attempt to circumvent UEFA’s new financial fair play regulations.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger last month called on the European governing body to investigate the matter.
Jean-Luc Dehaene, chairman of UEFA’s Club Financial Control Panel, was yesterday quoted by the BBC saying: “I have some questions, yes.”
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