Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has insisted his side need Sergio Aguero and said his aim is to help the striker become a better player.
Aguero scored twice – his first goals in six games – as City beat West Brom 4-0 to move top of the Premier League.
The Argentina international’s future at the club has been questioned after he was overlooked for the Champions League game in Barcelona earlier this month.
But Guardiola said: “I’d like to convince Sergio how important he is.”
Aguero’s seven goals in the league make him joint top scorer with Chelsea’s Spain forward Diego Costa.
He also played a part in the first of Germany midfielder Ilkay Gundogan’s two goals against the Baggies on Saturday.
Former Barcelona and Bayern Munich boss Guardiola added: “We need him a lot. When he shows that brilliance and belief Sergio is exceptional. We want to try and help him to be better and better. He is fantastic.
“He is part of the history of this club but I would like to help him still. That is my target – help him to feel how important he is for us in in every game.
“He is one of the best. And above all that he is one of the nicest people I have ever met. I love working with the nice guys, and Sergio is one of them.”
BBC Match of the Day pundit Danny Murphy said Augero, 28, looked more dynamic without the ball this season.
“He was harrying people and that is not something I associate with the Sergio Aguero of last season,” said the former Liverpool and Tottenham midfielder.
“He ran 10.2km against West Brom. That is a lot different from last season when he was clocking less than eight on average.”
Former England striker Alan Shearer added: “He is the one genuine world-class player we have in the Premier League.”
Guardiola admitted he had doubts about his City side but not his principles after victory over West Brom ended a six-match winless run, his worst such sequence in management.
“Six games without winning is a long time,” Guardiola told BBC Sport.
“When we lose always you doubt. Also in the second half when we didn’t play like the first half I had doubts about what we had to do to improve.
“The principles? No doubts. But to know the players, how they play with other ones, how you play in different systems, sometimes you make a doubt, yes.
“Winning again is so important for us. When you lose, the problem is you lose a bit of confidence each time for the next game and it has happened in this period.”
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Source: BBC