I FEARED AXE OVER SERG BUY

SERGIO AGUERO was so disappointing in his first fortnight at Manchester City, David Platt feared that he and manager Roberto Mancini would be sacked for signing him.

Former England star Platt, then City’s assistant boss, said: “In his first two weeks of training, Sergio didn’t really run that much, he didn’t look that quick.

“And he couldn’t hit a cow’s backside with a banjo. I said to the first-team coach: ‘This guy is going to get us the sack.’

“His first game was the Community Shield against Manchester United. We were 2-0 up at half-time, then it was 2-2, and, had Nani not scored, it would have gone straight to penalties. “I turned to Robbie [Mancini] with around a minute to go and said, ‘Why don’t we get Aguero on to take a penalty?’

“He said: ‘Good idea. Ask him’. But Sergio doesn’t say a word, he just shakes his head. I sank into my chair thinking, ‘This is it, this is the end.’

“After that we played Swansea in our Premier League opener. They were keeping the ball and about 65 minutes in Robbie turns and said, ‘Right, get Aguero on’. “After 71 minutes, he goes on and it becomes a toss-up for the best 20 minutes I’ve seen in my life – Roberto Baggio for Juventus at Pescara when he scored four and made one, or Aguero’s 19 minutes there.”

David Platt was speaking on the latest episode of the Keys & Gray podcast, available to download today.