In his last 2 seasons in the Premier League for Villa, he scored 8 in 36 (0.22 goals per game) and 6 in 26 (0.23 goals per game).
So far for City he's scored 2 in 16 (0.13 goals per game).
So he's down a little on his general trend. But he's absolutely never been a big goalscorer. Not even close.
I think he can and will improve his scoring numbers. I think next season onwards, when he's fully settled in, he should be aiming for around 10-15 goals a season, considering the volume of matches our players play and the chances they get.
I refuse to believe we bought him with the expectation that he'd solve our finishing problems. He can and should be contributing goals, it's valid criticism to say his finishing's been poor and he needs to work on being more clinical.
But goals were pretty low down on the list of benefits he delivered for Villa, and nonetheless Pep was a big admirer of what he was doing there, and wanted to bring him to the club despite his relative lack of goal return.
The way City play is so intricate and unique that any player joining us will go through a transition period and have to make certain adjustments. But you don't spend £100m on a 26-year-old with the aim of turning him into a completely different player.
He'll be wanting more goals and working to get them. But he's never going to be a goal machine. He wasn't bought for that purpose so to judge him primarily against those metrics is to miss the point of him.
So far for City he's scored 2 in 16 (0.13 goals per game).
So he's down a little on his general trend. But he's absolutely never been a big goalscorer. Not even close.
I think he can and will improve his scoring numbers. I think next season onwards, when he's fully settled in, he should be aiming for around 10-15 goals a season, considering the volume of matches our players play and the chances they get.
I refuse to believe we bought him with the expectation that he'd solve our finishing problems. He can and should be contributing goals, it's valid criticism to say his finishing's been poor and he needs to work on being more clinical.
But goals were pretty low down on the list of benefits he delivered for Villa, and nonetheless Pep was a big admirer of what he was doing there, and wanted to bring him to the club despite his relative lack of goal return.
The way City play is so intricate and unique that any player joining us will go through a transition period and have to make certain adjustments. But you don't spend £100m on a 26-year-old with the aim of turning him into a completely different player.
He'll be wanting more goals and working to get them. But he's never going to be a goal machine. He wasn't bought for that purpose so to judge him primarily against those metrics is to miss the point of him.