Why Lacazette Is the Type of Striker Man City Need to Complement Sergio Aguero

Has there been a better striker in the Premier League than Sergio Aguero? The Manchester City striker’s goals-to-games ratio suggests he has no rivals in terms of potency in front of goal.

Thierry Henry would certainly rank above the Argentinian in most people’s opinion of the finest forward to grace the division. Henry was a prolific creator of goals as well as scorer of them, displaying as much genius outside the box as he did inside.

Aguero is perhaps more limited, a specialist goal-getter concerned with play at the very top end of the pitch. He plays almost exclusively on the shoulder of the last defender, coming alive in the final third—devastating inside the 18-yard box.

As out-and-out goalscorers go, Aguero is the best the league has ever seen, having scored 78 goals in 120 Premier League appearances. Across all competitions, he's bagged 107 in 162 for the Blues. 

Tim Ireland/Associated Press

He reached 100 goals for City faster than anyone else in the club's history and is now almost unanimously considered the finest striker City have ever had. The club spent £38 million to prize him away from Atletico Madrid in 2011, and he’s been worth every penny.

Keeping him at the Etihad will be a priority for City’s directors in the coming years. At 27, he has plenty of time left at the top, and interest from Barcelona and Real Madrid is likely to get more intense. Commercially and in footballing terms, City cannot afford to lose their star attraction.

Finding players to complement him is imperative. City underwhelmed last season, struggling, for the most part, to play with the same kind of freedom and brilliance that won them a league-and-cup double in the previous campaign. An injection of pace and fresh ideas is most certainly needed, and all the signs are that Manuel Pellegrini, the City manager, and Txiki Begiristain, the club’s sporting director, are doing everything they can give the squad a facelift.

Pellegrini ended the last campaign playing Aguero as a lone striker in something close to a 4-2-3-1 system. It worked. Six straight wins in their final six league games saw City move comfortably into second after looking at one stage as though they could fall out of the top-four places, securing Pellegrini’s future in the process.

But the Chilean prefers a 4-4-2 formation. It brought him great success in his first season at City and was the bedrock of his time in La Liga with Villarreal and Malaga. A shift back to his two-striker option at some stage is probable, particularly if he can shuffle his pack of forwards accordingly.

Edin Dzeko and Stevan Jovetic are likely to want to leave the club given their limited playing time last season, and if they were sold, it would unlock further money and wage-bill space that could be used to entice a new striker.

Lyon’s Alexandre Lacazette would fit the bill to partner Aguero. Any signing comes with risk attached, and buying a 24-year-old unproven in English football comes with added dangers, but he has shown plenty of potential and arguably deserves a chance to prove himself at a top Premier League side.

Last season, he scored 31 times in all competitions, breaking Lyon's record for the most goals scored in a single season, and was named Ligue 1 Player of the Year. He already has eight caps for France, scoring one goal. 

Lacazette is technically sound, possesses bags of pace, can dribble and is composed in front of goal. Given his breakthrough into the Lyon side came in 2011-12, scoring six goals, his improvement has been sensational and worthy of high praise. 

David Vincent/Associated Press

It’s easy to forget, too, that City signed Wilfried Bony in January, and although his performances and record thus far have underwhelmed, Pellegrini will be expecting more once he is free from injury distractions and gruelling mid-season international involvement.

He also possesses qualities that Aguero could thrive alongside. Bony is powerful, likes to play with his back to goal and is full of neat flicks and passes in the final third that others can benefit from. Aguero’s fleet-of-foot nimbleness and predatory instincts, in theory, should thrive when complemented by Bony’s defining attributes.

Whether Bony fully believes he can perform for a club of City’s stature and compete week in, week out against the very best, both domestically and in Europe, remains to be seen. He looked overawed at times during his first five months at the club. A good start to the new season will certainly help him.

Jon Super/Associated Press

Lacazette could complete an impressive three-man mix upfront. His movement and potential alongside Aguero’s dynamism and Bony’s strength would provide City with a more potent set of attacking options than they had throughout last season.

And with Alvaro Negredo’s sale to Valencia offsetting the money spent on Bony in January, and with Jovetic and Dzeko likely outgoings this summer, they could even make a small profit reshuffling their pool of strikers.  

Rob Pollard is Bleacher Report's lead Manchester City correspondent and follows the club from a Manchester base. All quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. Follow him on Twitter: @RobPollard.