Manchester City need a big-hitting 30-35 goal-a-season striker in the summer, says Alan Shearer

Manchester City need to sign a striker who can score 30-35 goals a season if they are to challenge at the very top once more.

That’s the view of the Premier League’s all-time top scorer Alan Shearer – who believes Pep Guardiola’s side need to find a replacement for the ageing Sergio Aguero.

City were held to a frustrating 1-1 draw at home to West Bromwich Albion on Tuesday night – a costly result considering that joint table-toppers Liverpool and Tottenham go head-to-head at Anfield just 24 hours later.

A frustrating game for the host was summed up by the fact they had 26 shots alongside 77 per cent possession – but only one goal for their efforts.

City legend and the club’s record goalscorer Aguero came on as a second-half substitute, after returning from another injury, and Shearer feels that the Etihad outfit need another attacking alternative to the 32-year-old to prevent them being so over-reliant on his abilities.

Speaking as a pundit on Amazon Prime, Shearer said: ‘When you look at the big picture in terms of Sergio Aguero, he’s not getting any better in terms of his performances.

‘He’s a brilliant player and if he’s fully fit he’ll still get 20-25 goals a season.

‘But very much like their neighbours [Manchester United], I think come the end of the season their priority will be getting in a big-hitting centre forward in. Someone who can score 30-35 goals a season.’

Gabriel Jesus started in place of Aguero and failed to score for the seventh straight game in all competitions for City.

Fellow Amazon Prime pundit McManaman believes that if Aguero was fully fit and had started in place of his Brazilian team-mate then the scoreline would have been different.

‘How many chances did Gabriel Jesus have this evening and I think that says it all,’ the former City midfielder said.

‘You’d think if Sergio Aguero was fully fit and played this evening you’d always fancy him to score against this type of opposition.’

Speaking about the chances that Ilkay Gundogan and Raheem Sterling missed at the end, McManaman was critical of Jesus for not being in those positions instead as a natural striker would.

‘The crosses into the box at the end, and anything that fell into it, Jesus wasn’t anywhere around it and he should be,’ he continued.

‘He should be on everything and having two chances. If he misses the target, fine but he should be in there and things should be falling for him.’

Owen Hargreaves concurred with his colleagues about City’s worrying lack of final-third prowess – adding that two seasons ago Guardiola’s side would have swatted away the Baggies.

Asked if City are title contenders, Hargreaves replied: ‘I still think they are. They’re only five points off the top teams but I just think they play different now. 

‘This is the type of game two years ago that they won five or six nil comfortably. They had 20 plus shots tonight but only two clear-cut opportunities and that’s the worrying thing. 

‘I think if those chances fell to Aguero then they win the game. The problem is they need goals – David Silva and Leroy Sane’s goals have gone and Raheem’s [Sterling] aren’t there as much as they were in the past before. 

‘They need somebody else to start chipping in with 10 or 12 goals. In the past they probably had five players with 10-plus goals but they don’t have that right now and they’re going to have to find somebody to step up with 10 goals. 

‘Maybe it’s not two defensive midfielders in a game when you’re to dominate possession with 80 per cent.’