Manchester City have confirmed that star striker Sergio Aguero will be departing the club this summer, a decade since signing from Atletico Madrid. Despite the Argentine’s age, clubs are said to be lining up to secure his services. City’s league rivals, Chelsea, are reportedly leading the race to bring him in for next season.
Despite confirming his decision to leave Manchester City at the conclusion of the current season, Sergio Aguero remains keen on staying in England – reports Daily Mail. The Argentine striker believes that he still has much to offer to the Premier League, and his preference remains to continue playing in the same.
Aguero is likely to be the recipient of several offers from around the globe this summer, given his status as a free agent. However, Chelsea are said to be in a prime position to sign the striker in the upcoming transfer window.
Chelsea added firepower to their attack ahead of the 2020/21 season by signing Timo Werner and Kai Havertz. However, both players have struggled to adapt to the league in their first season, while the team has suffered from a lack of goals. Furthermore, the futures of Tammy Abraham and Olivier Giroud remain uncertain at the moment. Both the strikers have been linked with moves away from Stamford Bridge recently.
As such, the Blues are reportedly on the lookout for a prolific striker to ease their woes. Erling Haaland is one of the names linked with a switch to London in recent weeks, but there is a huge line of admirers for the Norwegian centre forward. Furthermore, contrasting reports have stated that Borussia Dortmund are either unwilling to sell their striker this summer or will do so only if an offer of €150 million.
Aguero remains a viable plan ‘B’ for Chelsea if reports are to be believed. The Blues have been admirers of the Argentinian for a long time and even looked to bring him to Stamford Bridge a decade ago. However, they were pipped by the nouveau riches of Manchester City back in 2011, who secured the services of the young striker from Atletico Madrid for a fee of £35 million.
The Blues have been left to rue that one particular transfer saga, with Aguero turning into one of the most celebrated strikers in Premier League history. The Argentine has become Manchester City’s all-time top goalscorer in the last decade. He has also moved to fourth on the all-time league top-scorers list and is the competition’s leading foreign scorer. Aguero also holds the record for most Premier League hat-tricks with 12 to his name – so far.
Manchester City confirmed the departure of Aguero officially on March 29, 2021. The club and the player mutually agreed not to renew his contract at the end of the current season. He has been sporadically used by head coach Pep Guardiola during this campaign, with the Spaniard opting for a striker-less system for the most part.
However, City chairman, Khaldoon Al-Mubarak, confirmed that the club will be commissioning an artist to work on creating a statue for the Argentinian at the Etihad Stadium, thus cementing his legacy at the club.
Aguero still has at least 12 games left to play for the Citizens, should he be selected for them. He could add to his 257 goals for the club while taking his appearance tally to 396. The striker could also finish the season with four more trophies, with the team currently competing strongly on all four fronts. They are expected to wrap up another title win this season and are in the final of the EFL Cup.
