Pep Guardiola has been left wondering what might have been for Manchester City had Gabriel Jesus and Sergio Aguero been available all season.
The club announced the signing of the highly-rated Brazilian striker last summer but the deal was not finalised until the January transfer window.
Jesus then made an immediate impact by scoring three goals from four starts but he broke a metatarsal in February and only returned to action in Thursday's derby stalemate against Manchester United.
Aguero has scored 30 goals this season but, despite his efforts, Man City have failed to mount a serious Premier League title challenge and dropped out of the Champions League at the last-16 stage.
Asked if things might have been different with more involvement from Jesus, Guardiola told Sky Sports News: "Always I will have things in my mind what would have happened if I had been able to have Gabriel Jesus all season, but I will never know. I can imagine but I don't know.
"The other guys made a lot and in the last two months it is outstanding what we have done. Except Thursday, Sergio scored in the last 11 games one goal a game. His numbers are there, he's scored a lot of goals, but I would like to see him with another guy helping him, to take a lot of the pressure in that sense and both to be there in that position."
"I would like to know what would have happened in many games when we missed chances because he has this instinct in the box. Now we are so happy he is back and next season he will be there with us.
"Gabriel is a number nine from Brazil and is a guy everybody knows how special he is. And hopefully next season, what we are going to try to get in the team is going to help us even more."
Up next for Man City is Sunday's visit of Premier League strugglers Middlesbrough.
Giuseppe Labellarte
