Pep Guardiola and Sergio Aguero's relationship is a complicated one. It's clear the manager has always ranked the striker as an important player for the team, but it's been just as clear that he was frustrated by Aguero's style of play in his first season in charge. By the end of 2016-17, the consistent questions about the striker's future had begun to wear down Guardiola's patience.
Despite all parties insisting there was no issue -- City said they had no desire to sell and Aguero said he wanted to stay -- the stories persisted. The situation wasn't helped by the striker often stating that he'd heard nothing about his future from the club and that it would be decided at the end of the season.
Part of the perceived friction between the manager and the player came from Guardiola's confidence to do what he felt was best for the team. Under both of Aguero's previous City managers, if he was fit then he would play. Neither Roberto Mancini nor Manuel Pellegrini would leave the striker out of the starting XI if he was available, no matter the form or quality of the other forwards in the squad.
Neither manager tried to get Aguero to do anything other than what he wanted to do. They didn't ask him to drop deep and get involved in the build-up play; they were happy for him to see the ball three times and find the net twice in the whole of the 90 minutes (as he would sometimes do.)
In February of Guardiola's first campaign, when Gabriel Jesus arrived in a £27 million move from Palmeiras, the manager dropped Aguero for three games. It might have been longer, had the new arrival not been forced off injured early on in the 2-0 win at Bournemouth, giving Aguero the chance to come back into the team.
Over the final two-and-a-half months of the season, Aguero was far more involved in the play from deep. His goal record, which has always been phenomenal in England, didn't suffer and began to look more like the striker that Guardiola wanted him to be. Indeed, he went on a run of 12 goals in 12 games at one point.
By the time Aguero had bagged a first-half brace in the 5-0 win against Watford on the final day of the season, any issues between him and the manager appeared to have been ironed out. The speculation that the striker was to leave had died down, except for a few days where an unlikely move to Chelsea was suggested and quickly dismissed.
In opening his account for the new season in Saturday evening's 2-0 win at Brighton, Aguero edged closer to becoming City's record goal scorer. He's now seven behind Eric Brook's tally of 177 -- though he's so far played 240 games fewer than the current top scorer and has been at the club seven years less, too.
As if to underline how much of a star Aguero has been for City, there is only one team he's faced in the top flight and failed to score against. He's netted against 30 of the 31 opponents he's faced, though it looks like he'll never have a perfect record as Bolton are the anomaly and they were relegated after Aguero's first season.
Guardiola's modifications to City over the summer will benefit the striker greatly. In moving to a back three with wing-backs, not only has the manager shored up the defence with extra cover but he's also kept the width that made his side so destructive going forward and he's made room for two strikers on the field.
The partnership between Gabriel and Aguero will need some work, but there have been promising signs so far. In last season's 2-2 draw with Middlesbrough at the Riverside, the two linked up well. And the pair were frightening in the 5-0 win at Vicarage Road last May.
That form continued at the Amex, where they were both integral to the high press that helped City craft a number of chances and pin Brighton into their own half for large spells. Both wasted opportunities, and that will disappoint the manager, but they're also showing that Guardiola has several options.
The relationship between the manager and Aguero may never be as close as it was with Guardiola's predecessors, but any talk of it being a problem for City has to have been quashed already this season. This time last year, the Argentine wouldn't have been chasing down the opposition defenders and putting them under pressure consistently throughout the 83 minutes he played.
Aguero is a changed man -- he was already the best forward in the Premier League, but in City's new setup and with the chances they should create in their new style this campaign, he could be so much better.