Aguero can become City’s outright all-time scorer if he grabs a hat-trick against rock-bottom Crystal Palace at the Etihad Stadium today.
The Argentina striker is definitely in the mood to break Eric Brook’s 78-year old record of 177 Blues goals, having hit a treble in last weekend’s 6-0 destruction of Watford.
That took his tally to five in three games and kept Guardiola’s side joint top of the Premier League table with arch rivals Manchester United.
But although he has been a consistent menace to Premier League defences since joining City from Atletico Madrid in 2011, Aguero has been starved of personal recognition.
He has he never won any of the player of the year awards, nor ever been named in the Professional Footballers’ Association’s team of the season.
He had another snub this week when he was left off the 55-man shortlist for Fifpro’s World XI, which recognises the top performers over the past year.
But Guardiola says none of it matters because Aguero has respect where it matters.
The City boss said: “I always encourage my players to fight for the recognition of his team-mates. That is the best way.
“The best present you can have is the feeling that your team-mates is when you have the feeling that your team-mates love you and you feel you have helped them.
“Recognition in the media and prizes are OK for ten minutes and then after that they disappear.
“So he’s not in the Fifpro team this week. He will be in the next one, it doesn’t matter.”
Guardiola is certain that Aguero will break Brook’s record – it is just a question of when.
“The record is going to be broken,” said the City manager. “Where, I don’t know. Maybe at home would be better.”
Aguero has had a topsy-turvy 12 months, having to raise his game to prove his worth to Guardiola – who demanded that the striker increased his work rate off the ball.
He has also lost his place in the Argentina starting line-up, at a time when Jorge Sampaoli’s side are facing a serious battle to qualify for next summer’s World Cup.
Guardiola admits that Aguero does not always look the most enthusiastic player on the training ground but always sees him come to life on a match day.
He added:: “Sometimes his body language is like: ‘I’m tired, I don’t like this, it’s cold, it’s freezing.’ But he loves to play football.
“He likes the ball and when he can score a goal, his eyes open. He’s a football player.
“Sergio has the character to score goals. He had it in the past with Argentina, his mother and father gave him that talent.
“He will die scoring goals, there is no doubt about that.”
Guardiola, meanwhile, has slammed the Carabao Cup as a “waste of energy”, claiming that it clogs up the fixture list.
He made eight changes for Wednesday’s third-round win at West Brom to keep his stars fresh for the Palace game.
“It’s good for the players you don’t use a lot,” Guardiola said. “It’s a prize where, when you win, it’s OK, but after that the people don’t give too much credit.
“I think the prize is good when you win another one. But you waste a lot of energy.”
