Manuel Pellegrini says Sergio Aguero has 'a lot of years' left at Man City

Manuel Pellegrini says Sergio Aguero still has a long-term future at Manchester City, despite the striker revealing he would like to return to Independiente.

The striker was quoted this week reiterating his intention to go back to his boyhood club when his contract at the Etihad Stadium ends in 2019.

City were understood to be keen to discuss a new deal with the 27-year old, and Pellegrini insists that could still happen, even though he is being replaced by Pep Guardiola at the end of the season.

"Sergio knows why he wants to do it (return to Independiente). It's difficult to talk about what will happen in two or three years more, because players change their minds," said Pellegrini.

"Maybe he can be happy to return to Argentina, but Kun (Aguero) has a lot more years here in Europe."

The City manager's current focus is maintaining his side's interest in the Premier League title race.

City ended a run of three defeats with a win over Aston Villa last weekend, leaving them in fourth place, trailing leaders Leicester by 10 points with a game in hand.

However, they have come from behind to win both of their Premier League titles. At the same stage in 2012, they trailed rivals Manchester United by four points, while they were six points behind Chelsea in 2014.

Pellegrini, who takes his team to a struggling Norwich side on Saturday, is hoping to lead another comeback this year, but knows they will have to rely on their rivals to slip up along the way.

"We don't depend just on the work we can do. We cannot have the same points as Tottenham and Leicester if they win all their games," added the Chilean.

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"But if they win the title (we need to make sure), it's because they win all their games and not because we couldn't win ours. We'll focus on trying to win at Norwich and we'll see the way the other teams manage the pressure between now and the end of the season.

"The most important thing is that we don't have margin of error. We need to win our games."

Norwich have taken just one point from a possible 27, and have fallen into the bottom three. Despite that, Pellegrini is not taking Saturday's game for granted.

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"When you must play against teams in relegation positions, it is always very difficult because they don't have much to lose," he said.

"They must try to win their points, especially at home, so I'm sure we will find them a very difficult team. It will be a very tough game if we want to win the three points."