Manchester City's Dependence on Sergio Aguero Clear as Ever as Arsenal Loom

Manchester City did not have the happiest of international breaks, but they did receive one bit of news they absolutely had to have.

Sergio Aguero came back from training with Argentina with no new injury issues, and City's best striker will be fully fit for the Sky Blues' clash with Arsenal at the weekend.

Aguero's importance to City is never really in question. Under the current circumstances, though, Aguero's health is of paramount concern to City manager Manuel Pellegrini, who may be without forward Stevan Jovetic.

"Manchester City striker Stevan Jovetic is a doubt for the club’s Premier League encounter against Arsenal this Saturday after he picked up a hamstring injury training for Montenegro at the weekend," wrote Jack de Menezes for The Independent.

If last season is any guide, Jovetic will be unavailable against Arsenal. The vast majority of the time that Jovetic was believed to be carrying a knock last season, he did not dress. And those periods of inactivity had a tendency to become elastic.

Along with the bad tidings on Jovetic, City's international break was also soured by the word that to the extent City are compelled to pay penalties for their Financial Fair Play violations, the money will go to their competition.

According to a Press Association report in The Guardian, "(t)he first tranche of payments from City, Paris Saint-Germain and Zenit St Petersburg will total £20 million and will be split among the Champions League and Europa League clubs who did comply with the rules last season."

The report further noted that, because any club that complied with FFP and played in Europe last season are eligible for this payout, "Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur, Swansea City and Wigan Athletic are the English clubs in line for a windfall of around £200,000."

While distasteful to City, this news is hardly debilitating to City's conduct of their affairs. Seeing Arsenal or Chelsea receive £200,000 of City's money is disappointing, but then so is paying that sum to Yaya Toure every week and having him complain about it.

Rui Vieira/Associated Press

Missing out on Jovetic for a time and shelling out cash to rivals are inconveniences, little more. Going without Aguero is always a greater problem for Pellegrini and City.

Richard Arrowsmith of the Daily Mail recounted Aguero's pertinent statistics in underscoring just what a capable Aguero means to City. "The prolific striker was hampered by injury last season but still managed to score 26 goals in all competitions for the Blues—while he has managed two goals in three appearances (two as a substitute) this season," Arrowsmith noted.

Aguero's availability is acutely important right now, as City enter one of the thorniest stretches of matches on their absurdly difficult schedule.

City's next three matches come at the Emirates in league play, at the Allianz Arena against Bayern Munich in the Champions League group stage and then home to (wait for it) Chelsea in the league.

That makes it three matches against Champions League sides in eight days.

It is difficult to know how much City will have left by the time Chelsea come to the Etihad, but as City striker Edin Dzeko recently noted, City's competition for the Premier League title is: 1. Chelsea, and 2. everyone else.

"This season Chelsea might be the most serious challenger, but we mustn't ignore Liverpool, Tottenham, Arsenal, or United, who will certainly be much stronger than last year," Dzeko allowed, according to Pete Oliver in the Daily Star.

Which brings us back to Aguero. Pellegrini was on record late last month stressing the importance of keeping Aguero upright. 

“It is important he has a good preparation and that is why he is now in between pre-season and the season. A lot of other players arrived late and we will see how we can do it so they can be 100 per cent fit. We will maybe see after the international break," Pellegrini said of Aguero then according to Mark Ogden of The Telegraph.

Well, the international break is over.

City must fervently hope that Aguero can be productive and injury-free in the challenging run of upcoming matches.