Sergio Aguero’s amazing career at Manchester City will come to an end when his contract expires at the end of this season, with the Argentine striker confirming his leave in an emotional social media post on twitter this Monday.
The 32-year-old Argentine has scored 257 goals in 384 appearances over his decade long career at the club and Man City’s chairman, Khaldoon Al Mubarak, announced that a statue would be built at the Etihad Stadium in his honour, alongside former captain Vincent Kompany and midfielder David Silva.
The trio played a vital role in Man City’s Premier League title win in 2012 when Aguero scored a mind-blowing last-gasp winning goal against QPR to secure the club’s first top-flight title for the past 44 years. Aguero has lifted more titles and cup such as two Premier League titles, one FA Cup and five League Cups since then.
“With the guidance of the owners and the contributions of many players, we earned a place among the greatest of the world,” he wrote.
Head coach Pep Guardiola believed in the club’s second striker Gabriel Jesus, however, Manchester City are one of several clubs topping the struggle in the summer transfer window with Borussia Dortmund’s star Erling Haaland to get to their squad. Meanwhile, Aguero is free to decide his next destination; Barcelona, Bayern Munich and other teams are among those linked with an interest.
Who could City sign to replace him?
Erling Haaland
Haaland, alongside Kylian Mbappe, is currently an amazing forward in Europe and is being chased by a whole lot of clubs, including Real Madrid, Chelsea and Manchester United. It will, however, take an exorbitant fee to get him from Borussia Dortmund, although failure to qualify for next season’s Champions League could help force their hand to release him to any club with huge fee. Haaland is represented by Mino Raiola, which could make negotiations more difficult for available clubs.
Harry Kane
The England captain has insisted he will not let speculation over his future cloud his Euro 2020 hopes this summer, however, he has made it know before of his desire to win trophies. At 27, that window is beginning to close with Tottenham struggling to secure a top-four seat on the table, let alone challenge for the Premier League, under Jose Mourinho. City are kin admirers of Kane, but his contract will be expiring 2024, it would require a high fee to even force Spurs to consider a sale.
Lautaro Martinez
A fellow Argentine, Martinez has previously been a target for City. He has scored 14 goals and added eight assists in 27 appearances for the Serie A leaders this season, however, he has recently signalled his interest to remain in Italy. Barcelona had previously prioritised the signing of Martinez, however, Inter Milan refused to negotiate a fee of anything below the 23-year-old’s £98m release clause.
Andre Silva
Portuguese international has been in prolific form for Eintracht Frankfurt this season, scoring 22 goals in 26 appearances already this season in all competitions. The 25-year-old is represented by Jorge Mendes, with City’s Joao Cancelo and Bernardo Silva among the agent’s other clients, and may represent a cheaper alternative
Joao Felix
Felix was one of European football’s most sought-after prospects when he joined Atletico Madrid in 2019, however, there have been reservations over his development under Diego Simeone’s tactics. Linked with interest from Juventus too, despite Felix’s considerable talent, has yet to prove a ruthless goalscoring streak capable of matching the likes of Aguero or Haaland.