TheSportsCampus

Manchester City have finally got their hands on their number one summer target Sergio Aguero after the Argentine striker completed his £38 million from Atletico Madrid. The protracted transfer saga has dominated City’s summer as much as the imminent departure of Carlos Tevez. The striker arrived in Manchester earlier this week to rubber stamp the five-year deal reportedly worth £200,000 a week. Diego Maradona’s son-in-law came to Manchester along with his agent Hernan Reguera following a week which saw the player fail to show up at Ateltico’s training and the club removing his face from their promotional campaigns.

Aguero has been one of the hottest properties in European, if not world football in the past couple of seasons. A two-footed striker with a low centre of gravity, Aguero has all the qualities needed to succeed at the highest level. He is blessed with great ball control and also has developed into a good passer of the ball, as evident from the countless assists for Atletico in the last few seasons. Like his predecessor at Atletico, Fernando Torres, there has been a misconception about Aguero regarding his goal ratio. But a record of over 100 goals from 234 games over five seasons speaks for itself.

Aguero has forever been in the limelight, ever since he became the youngest player since Diego Maradona to make his debut in the Argentine League. Aged just 15, he made his debut at Independiente in what is likely to be just a footnote to a great career. The U-20 World Cup was where Aguero came to international prominence as he helped Argentina secure back-to-back titles in 2005 and 2007. He won the Golden Boot and Golden Ball awards at the 2007 edition after scoring six goals in seven games. He joined Atletico a year prior to that, moving to Spain for a reported fee of €23 million. He was an integral part of Atletico’s purple patch as they qualified for the Champions League on two successive occasions.

The peak was undoubtedly the 2010 UEFA Europa League as Atletico beat Fulham 2-1 in the final, with Aguero grabbing two assists. They went on to beat Inter Milan and capture the European Super Cup later that year as Aguero grabbed a goal and an assist in the 2-0 triumph. His exploits were unsurprisingly attracting the attentions of the biggest clubs in Europe, with everyone from Real Madrid to Manchester United interested in the player. But Atletico slapped an enormous price tag on their biggest star in an attempt to deter his suitors. He signed a contract extension in January this year that suggested he would stay at the Vicente Calderon till 2014. But a mere five months after signing the extension the player declared his intentions to leave the club.

But no fee is beyond the reach of Manchester City as they pursued hard to get their target, irrespective of the cost. The Carlos Tevez situation expedited the process a great deal as Roberto Mancini and the rest of the City hierarchy were resigned to losing their Captain. Tevez has been hugely vital to City’s rise in the last two seasons, scoring an amazing 43 goals in 63 games. But the lack of another 20-goal-a-season striker was a clear drawback last season, in spite of the arrivals of Edin Dzeko and Mario Balotelli. The purchase of Aguero is definitely a huge boost for the club as they seek to jump to the next level in European football, but like with most City signings in recent years, it remains to be seen if the ends justify the means.

Aguero's transfer breaks the club record eclipsing the £32.5 the club spent on Robinho in 2008. The fans though will be hoping the Argentine's high price tag and the pressure associated with being the most expensive player in the team will not affect his performances. Aguero has been handed the no.16 shirt at City.

In an exclusive interview with mcfc.co.uk Aguero compares the Manchester derby with the Madrid derby, talks up how he easily he believes he will settle in and how much he looks forward to working with Roberto Mancini. When asked about his playing style Aguero promised to "fight to the death for every ball and give 100% in every game."

He also shared that he believed that City "are a team that in the future will be fighting every year to win major trophies" and that he hoped to be part of many successes.

Aguero will do Manchester City colours for the first time this weekend as City travel to Dublin, Ireland to face an Irish select squad, Celtic and Inter Milan in the first ever Dublin Super Cup. Man City play the home team (Airtricity Irish XI) on 30th July followed by Inter the next day.