AGUERO TO HAVE ONE FINAL HURRAH AT BARÇA
AGUERO AND MESSI HAVE SCORED 1,057 GOALS COMBINED AT CLUB LEVEL
“You are going to the greatest team in the world,” Pep Guardiola told Sergio Aguero.
While the former Barcelona captain and manager is hardly an impartial judge, there
is something extraordinary about the striker’s next move after leaving Manchester City.
Barcelona first appealed to Aguero as a kid; now in his footballing dotage, the club of his best friend, Lionel Messi, are his employers. When he learned that Barça were interested, he told his agents not to talk to anyone else.
But a romantic tale may be one forged by hardship. Rather than collecting Galacticos,
Barcelona have been forced to bargain hunt – and Aguero was available on a free transfer. There are doubts about which player they’ve acquired: his Premier League career ended as it began, with a two- goal cameo that showed his predatory instincts remain as finely honed as ever. Yet his body has started to break down: only six of his record 260 City goals came in his final 15 months, when his injuries were more frequent and sharpness elusive. Is the finisher supreme finished?
Or was last season just an unlucky one- off? In 12 of the previous 13 campaigns, Aguero had bagged at least 20 goals; 17 in the other. Only Messi and Antoine Griezmann topped 11 for Barcelona last year, explaining why they wanted someone to lead the line and act as their foil.
There’s also an encouraging precedent for a striker discarded at 33 inspiring his new club to the La Liga title: Aguero may be a belated replacement for Luis Suarez, one year after another of Messi’s best buds joined Atletico.
If Barcelona lacked a natural No. 9 last year, now they look more potent with two new candidates. Ronald Koeman’s long pursuit of Memphis Depay succeeded, and if the Dutchman looks like the manager’s choice and Aguero a club signing, there is probably only room for one in the strongest side.
And then there’s the Messi factor – his friendship with Aguero dates back 16 years. The two old gunslingers have scored 1,057 club goals between them... but never with one loading the bullets for the other.