SERGIO AGUERO: LOOKING BACK ON ONE OF THE PREMIER LEAGUES ALL-TIME GREATS

Featured Image Credit: Marca

Manchester City V QPR. 19/05/11, Etihad Stadium. 4 minutes into extra time.

Martin Tyler: Manchester United have done all they can. That Rooney goal was enough for the three points.

Manchester City are still alive here.

Balotelli...

AGUEROOOOOOOOOOO

I swear you’ll never see anything like this ever again! So watch it, drink it in!

Just his name is enough to bring back memories of one of the most thrilling moments in Premier League history. If you’re not a United fan, that is.

But, after 10 years at the Etihad Stadium, the architect of that legendary piece of commentary, Sergio Aguero has announced that he will leave the club at the end of the season, when his contract ends.

What a decade it was. Aguero has cemented his place in the pages of Manchester City’s history, and when he leaves, he will take his rightful place in the minds of Premier League fans, as one of the best strikers to ever grace the league.

Injuries may have got the better of his most recent seasons, but Aguero’s statistics are beyond belief. In 271 league games, he has 181 goals, putting him fourth in the all-time standings, and making him the highest-scoring foreign player. Just seven more before the end of the season would see him leapfrog Andy Cole into third.

It’s Aguero’s rate of scoring that is most impressive though. He has found the net on average every 108 minutes, which is the best record of any of the league’s top 150 scorers (Basically anyone with more goals than Mikel Arteta, who has 42).

He also holds the record for the most hattricks, after surpassing Alan Shearer’s tally of 11 in January last year. He is joint holder of the record for the most goals in a single game, with five, however the four other players who achieved this played for all 90 minutes. Aguero came off after 66.

He joined the Citizens in 2011 for a club record fee of £38m, as part of the club’s regeneration. The Premier League proved to be no match for him, as he has scored against 32 of the 33 teams he has faced in the competition. The only team he failed against was Bolton, who he only played once, on his league debut.

When he leaves the club, and probably the league, at the end of the season, debates will rage for a long time on where he ranks in the list of Premier League greats, but there is no doubt that he is one. Shearer may have more goals, and Henry may be a more complete forward, but few strikers can replicate what Aguero has given to Manchester City over the past decade.

The missing piece of his career so far is the Champions League, as it is for many other City players. But, this could be the year, and lifting the famous trophy which has eluded him for so many years, could be the perfect send-off.

His next destination still remains a mystery though, as Aguero has already said that he will only make the decision on a move at the end of the season. Remaining in the Premier League seems unlikely, although Chelsea have been linked, but a move to replace Edinson Cavani at Manchester United is unthinkable, and would break a lot of Blue hearts. A return to Spain is the most plausible of all the options, either linking up with Messi at Barcelona, or coming full circle and lining up for Atletico Madrid. Going back to Argentina could be on the cards in the future, but there seems to be a few too many goals left in Kun’s boots to make that move just yet.