Forget about it - Guardiola dodges Aguero, Iheanacho questions

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola refused to
be drawn on speculation over the futures of strikers
Sergio Aguero and Kelechi Iheanacho as his side
look to rubber-stamp Champions League
qualification at Watford.
A report by the Telegraph suggested Aguero will
seek assurances over his future following a
campaign where he has scored 31 goals but seen
his status as City's number one striker come under
threat from Gabriel Jesus.
Aguero's dazzling display in Tuesday's 3-1 win
over West Brom, where he did not find the net
himself but was heavily involved in each goal, drew
warm acclaim from Guardiola, who has often
tempered his praise of the Argentina star.
Iheanacho made an impressive first-team
breakthrough last season under Manuel Pellegrini
but the 20-year-old has found opportunities hard
to come by since Jesus' arrival from Palmeiras in
January.
West Ham have been linked with a £20million bid
for the Nigeria international but Guardiola only has
eyes for Sunday's trip to Vicarage Road, where
victory will assure City of third place.
"I spoke three days ago about the future, so I am
not going to speak about the future," the former
Barcelona boss told a news conference when
quizzed about Iheanacho and Aguero.
"I know the question is going to come but forget
about it.
"The day after tomorrow we have a real final and
the players have to be focused on that."
Only defeat, victory for Liverpool and Arsenal and a
five-goal swing in favour of Arsene Wenger's men
can deny City a spot in the top four but Guardiola is
taking nothing for granted on the back of three
consecutive home wins.
"It's a crucial game, a final for us. It's in our
hands. Just look what we have to do, we have to
travel to London to win the game," he said.
"Every game there is pressure, every game we play
for everything. It does not depend on Arsenal or
Liverpool, it depends on us.
"We have had a good period. We have won three
games in a row but we still have 95, 96 minutes to
fight.
"Watford have had a good season. They are safe.
We have to be careful."
Even if City secure third, their trophy-less return in
Guardiola's maiden campaign unarguably
represents a disappointing return on lofty pre-
season expectation.
"We didn't fight until the end because two teams
[Chelsea and Tottenham] were better. We dropped
a lot of points at home," he added.
"We have to improve next season. We have to work
harder to reduce the gap. Against West Brom we
created a lot of chances. That is the way we have
to play. We are going to make changes [in the off-
season]."

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