Pep Guardiola insists Manchester City could not manage without Sergio Aguero, but says the club needs Gabriel Jesus too.
Jesus has made an immediate impact at City since arriving in the January transfer window, with the 19-year-old starting ahead of Aguero in the 4-0 win over West Ham on Wednesday, scoring his first goal for the club in the process.
Aguero, 28, has scored 18 goals in 25 appearances for City this season but has missed seven games due to two separate suspensions, and Guardiola believes the stakes are too high to rely on just one forward.
"The big clubs need a lot of strikers," said Guardiola, speaking ahead of City's Super Sunday clash with Swansea, live on Sky Sports 1 this weekend.
"Sergio remains the most, or one of the most important players in our squad. Without him it is not possible.
"He played all the games except once in Barcelona for a tactical decision, another one here when he came back from Argentina against Everton. But the other games when he was not banned he always played, and played good."
City originally agreed the £27m deal for Jesus in August but the player remained at Palmeiras for the remainder of the Brazilian league season, helping them claim the title in November with a game to spare.
Guardiola insists he is happy Jesus' arrival has led to a selection headache ahead of the visit of in-form Swansea to the Etihad Stadium, and believes there is room to accommodate all his forwards.
"We knew that from the beginning, we have a new player and, with Kelechi [Iheanacho], we have seven strikers, with the wingers," Guardiola said.
"At the end, this guy arrived, he played good and that is why he is playing. They play together, they play individually, Gabriel can play on the left, now I have many options.
"In the three games he [Jesus] played he showed a lot of things in terms of desire, when we do not have the ball helping us in our pressing, his intensity with the ball, his movement always in the box.
"Even when he comes into the middle to play he has the ability to share the ball with his team-mates. So we are happy. He's just 19 years old, so it's a lot to improve."
City's No 1 position could also be usurped, with Willy Caballero staking his claim to be first-choice goalkeeper ahead of previous starter Claudio Bravo by keeping consecutive clean sheets in his last two games.
Guardiola revealed he has not yet decided who will start against Swansea on Sunday, but insisted he treats his goalkeeper selection no differently to choosing his outfield players.
"In the big clubs they always have good goalkeepers and I'm going to decide depending on what I see," he said. "Like all the players, I'm not a guy who plays the same XI all the time during two months. I think you realise that.
"One of the big qualities of Claudio is his strong personality. Being the Chile captain and winning the Copa America, it's like winning the European Championship with the national team. He has played with teams like Barcelona, where the pressure is higher, thousand times higher than here, and he played there without a problem. He's not worried."