Former Manchester City defender Nedum Onuoha says they must buy big to replace Sergio Aguero this summer.

Onuoha, though, believes City must sign a replacement, whether that be Borussia Dortmund striker Erling Haaland, Tottenham's Harry Kane or a younger, up-and-coming forward.

“I think emotionally we are attached to seeing big, successful number 9's," Onuoha told Alessandro Schiavone.

"Given the fact that Sergio scored as many goals as he has done for City, if you wanna replace him, in your mind you need to replace him with somebody who can score that many goals as well.

“That's why we talk about Haaland. That's why we talk about Harry Kane. But as we have seen recently, City might not even play with a striker, so someone has to come in and fit in with the system.

"But if you can have someone who has the potential to score the goals that Sergio does and fit in with the style of the team, and then you add the fact that they could be a potential target man, that could maybe take City up a level again.

“It could be worth investing in Haaland or Kane. But then it depends how much the price is and if that player is definitely gonna make the team better because they might score goals but does that player make the team better?

"I think for City, in terms of their recruitment, that is what they ultimately look for.

“As a City fan, I'd love to see Haaland or Kane playing for City because that would make the team better. But that's just my theory based on traditional number 9's.

"It wouldn't surprise me if they spend £150m buying one of those two players but it also wouldn't surprise me if they spend £30m on a player who is maybe 19 or 20 years old who's starting his career, has got potential to do something similar to what Sergio did.

"Either way, it's a really interesting position to be in but do City feel they have to replace him? Because right now they don't need to play him anyway, which blows my mind."