Who could take crown of king Kun? M.E.N. Sport
WHO CITY WILL LOOK AT WHEN CLUB LEGEND AGUERO’S REIGN COMES TO AN END
TALK of replacing Sergio Aguero at City is rare.
It almost feels like sacrilege, a little like contemplating the demolition of Nelson’s Column and inviting designs for a modern art installation to take its place.
Kun’s place in the heart and soul of the club is irreplaceable – and the fear is that succeeding his goalscoring feats will prove equally impossible.
Gabriel Jesus is the natural successor, and he is progressing nicely – some fans forget he was just 19 when he arrived at City, four years younger than Aguero when he made such an instant impact.
But City will have to, sooner or later, make plans to bring in another striker, with no obvious candidate emerging from the academy.
The City hierarchy have pretty much assured Aguero that his departure from the club will be his decision, a remarkable indication that the player is held in the same affection by the higher echelons of the club as he is by the adoring fans who sing his name at every game.
Aguero is contracted until the summer of next year, when he could fulfil his regular vow and return to Independiente, the club where it all started for him 23 years ago.
If he continues at the level at which he has been performing, City will no doubt seek to extend his stay – but they cannot put off recruitment of his successor for too long.
Especially if that might mean missing out on an obvious target. There are no clear targets right now, but one name which keeps cropping up is Lautaro Martinez, whose parallels with Aguero are uncanny.
The 22-year-old Inter Milan striker made his name in the tough Argentine Premier Division by scoring 27 goals in 60 appearances for Racing Club.
That holds up favourably against Aguero’s 23 in 56 for Independiente, although Kun was a precocious talent who performed his feat before the age of 18. Aguero then left for Europe, where his knack of finding the net continued apace at Atletico
Madrid – in five years in La Liga he scored 101 goals in 234 games.
Martinez was 21 when, after earlier spurning advances by Atletico and Real Madrid, he migrated to Europe and has bagged 24 goals in 59 games for Inter.
He is now a regular in the Inter team, thriving alongside Romelu Lukaku with 15 goals in 24 games this season, although pictures of him alongside his brother, who was wearing a City shirt, raised a few eyebrows last year.
While Aguero has rattled in 41 goals in 97 games for Argentina, Martinez has begun his international career well, with nine goals in 17.
His hat-trick for Argentina against Mexico in September made everyone sit up, and reports in Spain suggested Lionel Messi was pushing his Albiceleste teammate as a potential replacement for Luis Suarez at the Nou Camp.
Martinez shares many of Aguero’s attributes, too. Relatively short, he has explosive speed, sharp control in tight spaces and is strong enough to hold off much bigger defenders.
But, despite being just an inch taller than the City man, he scores more with his head, while he also scores a greater percentage with his left foot.
Martinez reportedly has a release clause which, for two weeks in July, will see him valued at £94million.
That might be beyond City’s budget, and with Barcelona keen, the Blues would face a stiff test to land him.
City will have to, sooner or later, make plans to bring in another striker Stuart Brennan