Manchester City striker Sergio Agüero has stated that he would like to stay at Eastlands until the end of his contract in 2020, but insisted that the club will always have the "last word" on his future after he scored in Tuesday's 3-1 win over Watford.

I hope to see out my contract

It has been a mixed campaign for the Argentine having become the club's all-time top scorer and securing his 100th goal at The Etihad Stadium, whilst finding regular first-team appearances hard to come by not only this season but since the arrival of Pep Guardiola in the North West.

There have been numerous rumours of a possible exit from City in the summer but reports have also emerged that Guardiola is keen to keep the 29-year-old having been impressed with his work rate and determination to adapt to his methods, Agüero added the third goal on Tuesday night and shared his desire to stay with The Citizens.

"I have until 2020 I think," Agüero stated post-match. "The truth is that I hope to see out my contract and I'll try to do my best from here until the end of the season, and after that we will see what happens with me."

"For me, yes. Obviously my plan is not to change clubs," the 29-year-old stated when asked if he would like to stay. "The truth is I'm very happy here."

"But, as always, as I said before, the club has the last word," the Argentine admitted. "They're the only ones who decide because obviously the club is the one who makes the decisions."

"They are the ones who say you have to go or have to stay," Agüero added. "So I'll respect whatever they tell me."

Federation needs to reflect

Guardiola will have been happy to see his side return to winning ways after losing their 18-game winning streak with the 0-0 draw against Crystal Palace, however the games continue to come thick and fast with the win over Marco Silva's side was their fourth game in 11 days.

They still have another clash to come on Saturday when they welcome Burnley in the third round of The FA Cup, the English top-flight is still the only major European league that isn't currently on a winter break and Guardiola stated that more needs to be done to protect players.

“What I saw in the last weeks, how many injuries the players have,” he told his post-match press conference. “We are going to kill them."

"The federation needs to reflect. I know the show must go on but this is not normal," the coach stated. "They make a lot of control anti-dopings and control us - but we don’t protect the players."

“The people come here to watch the players and enjoy their performances. Not the managers in the press conferences or journalists," the Catalan proclaimed. "In England, you don’t protect the players. You can’t play every two days."

“The tradition is the tradition, we have to think about it a little bit," Guardiola concluded. "The players are artists and they are the reason we are here.”

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About the author
Danial  Kennedy
Award-winning sports journalism graduate. Currently studying a PR Masters at the University of Sunderland. Writing for VAVEL since August 2014. Twitter - @ddkjournalism.