Nery Castillo's agent has urged the Mexican to prove himself at Manchester City.

Castillo missed out on a move to Real Betis this week, but his agent, Juan Carlos Padilla, insists the attacking midfielder must buck up and fight for his place at City.

Padilla said: "Four tournaments are being played, but it's obvious Nery is not a priority (for Manchester City). This is not a secret.

"As a professional, Nery must complete his responsibilities. This season the team will play a lot of matches. I think he will probably play some minutes in the FA Cup, in the league or the UEFA Cup.

"Shakhtar changed a lot of things in the offer they had initially accepted."

Padilla added Castillo is only thinking about playing football.

"At the end of the day, Nery wants to play. Obviously, this is not the most optimistic situation in Nery's career, but life has worse problems," said Padilla.

"Nery will get over it. This is an out-of-context situation in world football."