Belfast Telegraph

City hero Aguero set for summer Etihad exit

- By Carl Markham

MANCHESTER City striker Sergio Aguero will leave the club this summer when his contract expires.

The Argentina internatio­nal is City’s record goal-scorer having netted 257 times in 384 appearance­s since arriving from Atletico Madrid in the summer of 2011 and is the highest-scoring overseas player in Premier League history.

Aguero, who turns 33 in June, is most famous for his added-time goal in the final league match of the 2011-12 season against QPR which secured the club’s first Premier League title.

“Sergio’s contributi­on to Manchester City over the last 10 years cannot be overstated,” said City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak.

“His legend will be indelibly etched into the memories of everyone who loves the club and maybe even in those who simply love football.

“This is not yet the moment for farewell words and speeches. There is still much to achieve in the remainder of the time we have with Sergio, and we look forward to his contributi­ons to the challenges which lay ahead.

“In the meantime, it gives me great pleasure to announce that we will be commission­ing an artist to create a statue of Sergio to live at the Etihad Stadium alongside the ones under constructi­on for Vincent (Kompany) and David (Silva).

“And we look forward to the opportunit­y to bid Sergio a fitting farewell at the end of the season.”

City are working on plans to mark his departure on the final home game of the season against Everton and they are hopeful thousands of supporters will be permitted to attend Etihad Stadium when lockdown measures are eased further.

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