Sergio Aguero has carved his name into Manchester City history as the club’s all-time top goalscorer.
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As Manchester City fans slowly and steadily come to terms with the departure of legendary footballer Sergio Aguero to Barcelona, a sudden reminder might well force them to begin from scratch. On this day (27th July) in the year 2011, Aguero signed for the Cityzens from Atletico Madrid. The 33-year-old spent a period of 10 years with the English giants, winning a lot of silverware along the journey. Aguero won the Premier League on five occasions, League Cup six times, Community Shield thrice as well as the FA Cup once. The 33-year-old scored 260 goals and recorded 73 assists over the course of 391 games, making his presence felt through thick and thin.
The signs were visible from his first game itself, with the opening encounter against Swansea witnessing one of the most explosive 30-minute cameos in Manchester City’s history. Swansea were the visitors to the Etihad Stadium, with City leading 1-0. The latter had dominated the game, but the scoreline certainly did not reflect the same. The 23-year-old Argentine striker was on the bench, having signed a fortnight earlier from Atletico Madrid. Aguero had finished the previous season as their top scorer having accumulated 27 goals in all competitions.
There was a lot of talent in the attacker’s arsenal for sure, having been widely considered as one of the most promising young prospects in Europe. However, a lack of experience in English football plus his small figure made it difficult to ascertain if Aguero would be able to transition to the rigours of the Premier League.
The Argentine dispelled all doubts making his presence felt with a fantastic performance, scoring two goals, one of which was a 30-yard screamer, before creating another with a brilliant flick which set David Silva up for a simple finish.
“He is not 100% yet but he is going to be fantastic for us,” said then Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini after the game.
Mancini’s words certainly reflected in Aguero’s progress over the years, as the Argentine developed into one of the most potent strikers English football had ever seen. The attacker ended his first season at Manchester City, with 30 goals in all competitions with the last of those emerging as the most iconic goal in the history of the Premier League.
The Cityzens had waited 44 years to win the PL, with the last triumph recorded in 1968 when Francis Lee, Colin Bell and Mike Summerbee reigned. Aguero held his nerve under pressure when the team needed a winner in the final match against Queens Park Rangers (QPR), having enjoyed a solitary assist from Mario Balotelli. The goal helped City snatch the title from cross-town rivals Manchester United, who had dominated English football for 20 years.
“The last day of the 2011/12 season was a crazy situation because we knew the scenario required to win the title, but I felt I’d die if we didn’t win or that I’d kill myself if we blew our title chance! OK, maybe that’s a little dramatic, but it felt like there would be nothing to look forward to if we failed,” stated Aguero later, indicating the importance of the triumph.
While the experts and masses were forced to sit up and take note of the immense talent that this new entrant boasted of, it was hardly a surprise for former Independiente coach Oscar Ruggeri and ex-Atletico Madrid teammate Diego Forlan.
“When I arrived at Independiente, they told me there was a phenomenon in the academy. One day I called him in to train with the first team and he killed everyone. He convinced us immediately” said Ruggeri.
Forlan termed playing alongside Aguero as one of the reasons why he joined Atletico Madrid.
“Playing with him was one reason I joined Atletico de Madrid. I’d first seen him on television in Argentina, where he made his debut aged 15 for my old team Independiente. A boy stood out against men. He scored one goal in a derby and I jumped up off the sofa in astonishment,” said the legendary attacker.
The attacker finished his journey in the Premier League with the best minutes-to-goal ratio in the history of the popular tournament. Aguero managed to surpass fellow legend Eric Brook who had held the record for being Manchester City’s all-time leading goalscorer for 78 years.
“The best foreign player to ever play in the Premier League. A great centre-forward with no weaknesses,” said Alan Shearer, the Premier League’s all-time leading scorer indicating how highly he rated the Argentine.
Aguero will certainly continue to enjoy a soft corner in the hearts of the Manchester City fans, as evident from two tributes shared by long-term supporters.
“I remember the time I started supporting City. It was back in 2009-10 and City won their first piece of silverware (the FA Cup) in a while, the season I started supporting them. Must’ve been a good sign, right? Cut to next season and I witnessed the arrival of Sergio Aguero, the Argentinian striker that City then signed for a pretty high sum. The banter had already started around me about how City was all cash and no results. Being a City fan in India was hard back then. You were one in a very countable few and were surrounded by fans of legacy clubs like United, Liverpool, Arsenal, and Chelsea yapping on about the rich history of their clubs. I think Aguero’s debut pretty much gave every one of these fans a precursor of what was going to be in store. 2 fantastic goals and an assist in the 30 minutes he played against Swansea pretty much established him as a threat to defenders in the league. And it didn’t stop there. In fact, it never did,” said Arihant Chaturvedi, a Bangalore-based City fan.
“Not even until his last game for City where he again came off the bench to poetically end his career here with another brace. His arrival along with the likes of David Silva and Yaya Toure changed the course of this club forever. Every City fan talks about the ‘Aguerooooo’ moment, and for me too, that’s a moment that will forever be etched in my mind. To have been able to witness it live was something else altogether. I remember it like it was yesterday. I was watching the game on my TV, pacing up and down my hall with my whole family rooting for City to win given how tense I was about the game, haha. The moment he scored the goal, I just completely broke down. It is a form of joy I had never experienced before and probably never will till City lift the Champions League trophy, I guess. The plan was to get 93:20 tattooed on my hand on its 10th anniversary, but then the pandemic happened. Hopefully soon though,” he added.
“Aguero right from the word go has been one of the best strikers that the Premier League saw and ever will see. He’s the kind of player that single-handedly influenced millions into supporting the club. He’s a true legend of the game and will be missed very dearly here at City,” concluded Arihant.
Another supporter Mylius Kalapati admitted that he was not confident about Aguero joining the Cityzens.
“I’ve been a City fan since the 2008/09 season and I remember very well at that time we were linked to many top players including Iker Casillas and Kaka. However, none of that materialized. Again during the summer transfer window in 2010, there was a lot of talk about Sergio Aguero and to be honest, I think fans didn’t believe that he would actually come to City from a big club like Atletico Madrid. City were very new on the European stage. When finally he signed for us, there was a lot of excitement and I still remember his debut against Swansea in the PL. We knew that he was someone special,” he stated.
“As they say, the rest is history, for a fan like me, nothing can ever surpass his goal against QPR on the final day of the season to clinch the PL. I think as fans, we will always be grateful for his service to the club,” concluded Mylius.
