Manchester City News : Sergio Aguero Signs Contract

First off, congratulations to MANCHESTER CITY & their fans for signing what many, including myself, consider the “Best Forward” currently in World Football. SERGIO AGUERO leaves ATLETICO DE MADRID with still 23 years of age & the World at his feet to evolve & explode into a World class player – if not already.

That is his dream, his ambition, to play at a Football Club that can guarantee European stage performances & titles in order to compete for the FIFA Golden Ball. Spanish Football Club Atletico de Madrid could not assure the player “the Football Stage”(Champions League ) & regular big titles. So why sign - with my upmost respects - with Manchester City?

Perhaps soon the REAL story behind Sergio Aguero leaving Atletico will come clean & be aired. Perhaps the player himself will go publicly, or a representative &/or a journalist with the facts behind the chain of events that took Aguero to a final destination not in his plans nor wished at all. If the objective was to make a “quantum leap” in Clubs from Atletico, Manchester City ( again with respects) is a side move without a leap. The player has been naive, badly represented, badly advised, shown poor judgement & lied to & betrayed. They may make a movie one day on this transfer & you may be shocked at the harsh & dark Shakespearian undertones present apart from the reality shock of the Football World.

Sergio Aguero

There has been a few posts written here on Spanish Football Sportsthat you can re-read to get some background (Segio Aguero 1), (Sergio Aguero 2) & (Sergio Aguero 3). But here is my summary, my humble & amateur summary:

• Aguero renews contract with Atletico de Madrid in 2010, before becoming a “free agent”, with the agreement to lower his contract release clause from 60M – 45M€ & the agreement to leave the Club the following season. This way Aguero gets his wish & the Club can get money (45M€) which otherwise would not have been possible as a free-agent.
• Aguero gets a “verbal agreement” of OK “to any Club of your desire“, not written. First mistake!
• January 2011 Winter Market, REAL MADRID approaches Atletico de Madrid & offers to pay 45M€ for Sergio Aguero. His Club says no, to avoid a fan backlash during a period were President Gil Marin & others are under fire for their poor performance & even threatened to go to court by a sector of their fans over Club ownership issues
• REAL MADRID ( I cannot prove this at all) tells Aguero to be patient that they will go after him at the end of the season. Some media observers say that there is a “verbal agreement” between REAL MADRID & AGUERO, not written.Second mistake!
• Aguero puts in a superb second half of the year single handedly saving Atletico to put the Club in Euro positions. He feels he has done his part.

Here at season end & Aguero announces unilaterally that he wishes to leave the Club, that the Club has to act as they have promised, that he has done his part & he is not coming back. This takes the Club & the Atletico fan – base by complete surprise as the player disappears to Argentina for duties with his country in the “Copa America” tournament. Third mistake! Too risky a move without something solid.

• However, apparently advised by his representatives ( all three that later split up in a in-house dispute) REAL MADRID had assured them that they would now act & called for the player to make a “strategic” public move.
• REAL MADRID did not expect or calculate the fierce reaction from Atletico de Madrid & its President Gil Marin under fire from the fan-base. The Club “rooked” itself against any selling to Real Madrid, it became a prohibited thought. Here Atletico goes against the promise of allowing Aguero to go to “any Club of his choice“. The reaction of Atletico was so fierce that it is talked ( cannot be proved ) that President Gil Marin begged Real Madrid President Florentino Perez not to pay the 45M€ contract release clause because he could not negotiate & risk be humiliated in front of the fan base. Apparently, Perez accept not to enter into a “war” with the city neighbour.
• REAL MADRID began then to look at Brazilian Neymar
• REAL MADRID “leaving options open” tells Aguero to however hang tight & see if “things cool down”
• With Aguero nervous, along with his representatives, the latter fly around Europe putting Aguero on sale. Why? Create a Plan B & put pressure on Real Madrid to make a move thinking they would lose out on Aguero
• Juventus asked , but did not have the money
• Real Madrid did not make a move
• FC Barcelona had shown interest early in the season & they were approached. But Barça does have enough budget to get Aguero & say they cannot.
• Real Madrid did not make a move
• Chelsea FC asked, but smelled something rotten as they took a step back
• Real Madrid did not make a move
• Manchester City saw a chance, asked, put up the money upfront, all 45M€
• Real Madrid still did not make a move
• Aguero held out waiting for a last minute rescue by Real Madrid, & it did not come

Sergio Aguero & his people had driven themselves into a dead-end street. Their continuous public comments , inappropriate behaviour & disrespect to the fans of Atletico & the most important, the none arrival of the verbal promise from Real Madrid, has forced the player to end up at Manchester City ( again with respect ), against all his desires.

It has been said ( cannot be proved ) that Argentina team-mate & Man City player Carlos Tevez explained to Aguero all the “disadvantages” of going to City & the English lifestyle for a Latin, the difficulty of adaptation. In fact, Aguero said publicly ( & Maradona) that he wished to stay in Spain as he had just bought a multi-million house in Madrid to expand the family.

In conclusion, this is a tragic story for Sergio Aguero. A story of lies, betrayal & dirty tactics that could be made into a movie on how the Football World operates. The player will now have no choice but to accept his badly managed fate & adapt to the circumstances with a smile & good words. But I hope this does´nt turn out to be another Tevez story for City.