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Sergio Aguero was forced into an early retirement from football on Wednesday after being diagnosed with a heart problem. It had kept him out of action for the last three months.
Aguero only made the move from Manchester City to Barcelona six months ago but he could only make a handful of appearances for the La Liga giants. He experienced chest problems and breathing difficulties during Barcelona’s 1-1 draw with Alavés on 30 October. He was then admitted to the hospital for cardiological tests.
Aguero was emotional while announcing his retirement at Camp Nou. He wiped away tears as he bid farewell to the beautiful game in the presence of well-known personalities like Pep Guardiola, Joan Laporta and Xavi.
Aguero retires as one of the greatest strikers in Premier League history
Sergio Aguero is the Premier League's leading overseas goalscorer. He has found the back of the net 184 times, nine more than Arsenal legend Thierry Henry. He has the best minutes-per-goal ratio of any top-flight player with more than 20 goals and scored once every 108 minutes.
In just 10 seasons with the Cityzens, Aguero reached up to fourth place in the Premier League's all-time top scorers. Only Alan Shearer (260), Wayne Rooney (208) and Andrew Cole (187) have scored more than the Argentine.
The 33-year-old striker's exploits in front of goal could never be captured by words. Kun Aguero had a trophy-laden memorable career. As he looks ahead to the next chapter in his life away from the pitch, we take a look at five of his greatest moments.
Honorable mentions:
November 2017: Aguero surpassed Eric Brook’s 78-year record to become Manchester City's all-time top scorer across all competitions. He achieved the feat with a goal against Napoli in the Champions League.
May 2010: Aguero assisted Diego Forlan twice in the Europa League final with Atletico Madrid to lift his first major trophy at club level.
January 2020: Aguero scored the 12th hat-trick of his Premier League career to overtake Alan Shearer's long-standing record.
May 2015: Aguero scores 26 goals in the 2014-15 Premier League campaign to win his only Golden Boot award in the English top-flight.
#5 Impossible angle goal against Liverpool - February 2013
Sergio Aguero has scored a lot of goals in his career with quite a few of them being world-class strikes. None of them could quite match the audacity with which he scored the equalizing goal against Liverpool in the Premier League during the 2012-13 campaign.
It started with a misunderstanding between the then Reds goalkeeper Pepe Reina and defender Martin Skrtel. It saw the keeper rush out of his line to intercept a long pass directed towards Aguero. The Argentine forward beat him to the ball on the right-hand side of the box but the ball was now almost at the byline.
Aguero took the faintest of touches on the ball to open up a sliver of space to get the ball onto his right foot. In his stride, he executed a chipped finish from outside of the box into the back of the net. Given the angle and buildup to the goal, no wonder it was termed the impossible angle goal at that time.
#4 Youngest player to feature in the Argentine Primera Division - July 2003
Sergio Aguero was destined for greatness from the very start. Having joined the youth ranks of the Independiente at the age of nine, he showed great promise. He was handed his senior debut on the final day of the Argentine Primera Division in 2003 by coach Oscar Ruggeri.
The game was against San Lorenzo on 5 July 2003. Aguero was just 15 years and 35 days old as he stepped onto the pitch as a 69th-minute substitute. He became the youngest-ever player to play in the Argentine top-flight with that brief appearance. He broke a long-standing record held by none other than the legendary late Diego Maradona.
Aguero's record still stands intact after 19 years and it does not seem that it will be broken anytime soon, so his legacy continues.
#3 Five-goal haul against Newcastle United - October 2015
Sergio Aguero's goalscoring instincts in the box are very well known and most of his goals have been a poacher's finish from inside the box. These instincts were at their best on a sunny day at the Etihad Stadium on 3 October 2015.
Manchester City hosted Newcastle United in their Premier League fixtures. Though everyone expected the home side to win, only a few could've imagined the scoreline.
Aguero was without a goal in the previous 424 minutes in the league and 595 minutes across all competitions from open play heading into the game.
He started by scoring late in the first half to pull City level after Aleksandar Mitrović had given the Magpies an early lead.
He lit the ground running in the second half and scored four goals within 17 minutes. His first goal came in the 42nd-minute and the fifth one in the 62nd. It was the quickest five-goal haul in the history of the competition.
He was taken off in the 66th minute having already registered himself in the history books. He became only the fifth player alongside Alan Shearer, Dimitar Berbatov, Jermain Defoe and Andy Cole to have achieved the feat.
#2 Aguero surpasses Thierry Henry as the Premier League's leading overseas player - January 2020
Sergio Aguero has numerous goal-scoring records in the Premier League to his name. One such record that established his status as probably the greatest striker in the history of the competition was when he became the leading overseas player.
Aguero bagged a hat-trick against Aston Villa in yet another memorable outing in his away game. With the hat-trick, he broke two records at once. It was his 12th hat-trick in the competition, overtaking Alan Shearer's long-standing record.
The second record was of much greater significance as the goals took Aguero's tally to 177 Premier League goals, two more than Thierry Henry. He established himself as the leading overseas goalscorer in the history of competition in that game.
#1 The last-gasp winner against QPR to snatch the Premier League title away from Manchester United - May 2012
Sergio Aguero scored a goal in the 94th minute on the final day of the Premier League 2011-12 campaign. It will go down as one of the most dramatic goals in the history of the competition.
That goal was epic on its own. It secured a win for the Cityzens. In the process, it dethroned their arch-rivals Manchester United as title winners from literally one of the last kicks of the campaign. Martin Tyler's commentary etched that moment in the sport's history.
Of all the 260 goals for Manchester City, Aguero fondly remembers the goal that helped the club to their first league title in 44 years. The player also mentioned the goals as one of the most memorable moments during his farewell speech at Camp Nou on Wednesday.
