With all the recent news and gossip surrounding the potential departure of wantaway striker Carlos Tevez, Manchester City look to bolster their squad with a new Argentinian face. Sergio ‘Kun’ Aguero is a striker who you made have heard a lot about recently, but not necessarily seen much of his football. After spending a very successful five years at Spanish side Atletico Madrid, Aguero has quickly caught the eye of Europe’s biggest clubs and after he stated he may be looking elsewhere to find some silverware, the speculation grew.
With a buy-out clause of around £40million in his contract, Manchester City have been the ones to show the most interest recently, with Real Madrid reportedly not meeting the valuation. Although it seems like a hefty price-tag for any 23 year old, even with the inflated transfer fees we are seeing at the moment, there is no denying the talent of the man. Not only from his impressive goalscoring record at Atletico, with over one hundred goals in all competitions in the 5 seasons in Spain, but from his flair and sought-after playing style you can start to justify this £40million fee.
He, like Tevez, has the intuitive ability to create goalscoring opportunities and manufacture space for himself when most needed in matches. Sergio draws more comparisons to his fellow Argentine countryman with his small stature, quick and powerful approach to the goal, and composed deftly-executed finishes.
If indeed Carlos Tevez does get his wish and leave this summer, Aguero looks like the perfect candidate to fill his boots. With Mancini’s preferred style often only including one striker, the man at the top end of the pitch needs to not only be creative and available, but also needs to link up well with the midfield. Tevez was brilliant at performing the lone role because of this, and due to his lethal touch in front of goal whenever he got a sniff of the target. Aguero, although maybe not as hard-working and tenacious as Carlos, does seem to have many of these attributes that would enable him to fit into the preferred system at Manchester City.
Quick feet with a low centre of gravity, the ability to create that extra yard of space when necessary and the pace and power to drive away from the opposition defence with the ball are key characteristics that could lead to Aguero’s goalscoring ability put to good use. Unpredictability is always a great trait from an attacker who looks to keep the opposition defence guessing, and if Sergio can perform the touches, turns and skills that he did in Spain, some of the Premier League’s defences could be put to the sword this year.
However for Manchester City to get the best out of Sergio, they will need to get the balance of the team right. Mancini has Balotelli, Dzeko and a whole host of midfielders to juggle into a formation that works well. He may stick with the same shape as last season’s adapted 4-2-3-1, making sure to give Aguero the support he needs up-front, as there is a danger he could become isolated. I think at the start of the campaign at least, Aguero would be very beneficial if they played him alongside some attacking midfielders that are willing to get forward and become involved in some good interplay and movement.
This will encourage a goalscoring rhythm, unlike Chelsea’s introduction of Fernando Torres which saw him unable to gain confidence for a number of games. When Sergio joined Atletico, it took him a season to settle in as he found it a little hard to adjust to the step up, which may indicate that Man City will have to take things steady and be sure to introduce him into the squad in the right way. The Premiership is renowned for being a difficult league to adapt to, but I think that as long as the fans give him some time to take in the new surroundings, Sergio Aguero has the enthusiasm, quality and resilience to be a great fit for Manchester City and put them in a good position to challenge for the League title.
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