Pep Guardiola has hailed Sergio Aguero as ‘irreplaceable’ following news the Manchester City striker will be leaving the club this summer.
Aguero will be saying goodbye to City after ten years of service, where he’s helped them win four league titles, an FA Cup and five League Cups – and more trophies could be on the way this term.
Aguero will go down as one of City’s greatest ever players
There have been many highlights for the Argentine in his stellar career at City, including his stoppage-time strike against QPR which won them a first Premier League title – one of the iconic goals in the competition’s history.
He also leaves as City’s all-time top scorer, with his goal tally currently standing at 257 in just 384 appearances.
There’s huge talk about who will be the player to replace City’s star striker, with a move for Borussia Dortmund hotshot Erling Haalandbeing mooted.
But Guardiola suggested there’s no one out there who can replace what Aguero’s brought to the club since joining from Atletico Madrid in 2011.
Guardiola stressed how he and his predecessors have benefited hugely from Aguero being at the club
“Sergio is irreplaceable,” the Spaniard declared. “I could say in terms of numbers he could be replaceable but it’s not easy. When you see around 360 games and more than 250 goals, the amount of titles.
“He’s a legend, the best striker I ever had at this club… but he’s irreplaceable in the mind for our fans, to our people and to the players that played alongside him or the manager who worked with him.
“A fantastic person and human being. I think if his mind is still aggressive like he is, he can stand his career longer for two, three, four or five years.
“I still think he has interesting goals to score for us this season. Fortunately, he’s only been out for one season. We’ve had a lot of success but we’ve missed him in some moments.
It’s been a tough final season for Aguero, who has just one league goal so far, but the previous nine years have been excellent
“To have a special quality like this is so difficult to find – the sense of goal, the quality, he’s sharp. Especially when he’s sometimes angry and he’s upset he makes energy in his legs and is able to close to the box to make these runs for 5-10 metres…
“When I took over the club, he was one of the guys who helped. Not just him – we had Joe Hart, Pablo [Zabaleta], Vincent [Kompany] and David [Silva]. Many, many players helped this team to take a step forward and of course he was one of them.
“When he came here the club was at one level and he helped put the club at a higher level and that’s why all the people and the fans are grateful.”
Aguero and City are next in action on Saturday as they travel to Leicester in the Premier League, a match you can listen to LIVE on talkSPORT, kick-off 5:30pm.
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