Major League Soccer

Sergio Agüero retirement: MLS Teams that wanted him this year

By Hector Garcia

Barcelona striker Sergio Aguero has announced his retirement from football at the age of 33 due to a heart condition.

Barcelona striker Sergio Aguero has announced his retirement from football at the age of 33 due to a heart condition.

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The 33-year-old was taken to hospital after experiencing chest pains and breathing difficulties during Barcelona’s 1-1 draw with Alaves in October and was subsequently ruled out of action for three months following a cardiac arrhythmia diagnosis.

The former Manchester City forward has since had regular cardiac exams to monitor his health, with the results advising him it would be a risk to carry on with his professional career.

MLS Clubs that were interested in Agüero services

The Argentinian star and former Manchester City and Barcelona was in the plans of a few MLS teams. Before knowing the arrhythmia problem, Agüero was in the eyes of many teams all over the world due to his departure from Manchester City. 

Between March and April, when the 2021 MLS season was at its beginning and already was known that Sergio will not continue with the sky blues, the alarms went off for specifically five teams that evaluated the option of bringing Aguero to their squads. 

The five MLS sides that wanted Agüero were:

Austin FC: Claudio Reyna at that time had a Designated Player chip to play, the thought of placing Aguero atop the team was very tempting.

LAFC: The Californian team considered the Argentinian because they were lacking a good finisher. The idea for playing under ex-manager of LAFC Bob Bradley and with the two most goal-threatening wingers in the league was very ambitious and probable but that did not happen. 

LA Galaxy: The idea of bringing Agüero was for two main reasons, the first one, to share the attacking front-line next to Javier Hernández, better known as Chicharito, to have two excellent strikers that could scare all rivals. The second one was to avoid Agüero to join the rivals and lose the audience.

NYCFC: Because Aguero already had a long history with the Manchester City family, The citizens were the obvious candidate. They had at that time the DP slot. After all, New York City FC became champions without bringing Agüero to their squad.

Inter Miami CF: Beckham side with the arrivals of the international players Blaise Matuidi and Gonzalo Higuain, had very good chances to acquire Sergio due to the attractive project that was around the club. However, Inter Miami never had a DP to use and the option was really far from being realized.

Sergio Agüero Announcement 

“When I did the first tests the doctors called to say there was a very big chance that I shouldn’t continue [playing] and I started to mentalize myself but it wasn’t easy,” he said. “I was processing it all when they called and said it was definitive. I took a few extra days to process it. I got it into my head, thought properly, and decided.

"I have been in good hands with the medical staff. I made the decision 10 days ago after doing everything possible to have some hope of playing on. I am very proud of my career. I always dreamed of a professional career since the first time I touched a ball at 5.

“I’m OK now,” he said, not entirely convincingly, “but the first few weeks were hard. I’m proud of my career, very happy. I always dreamed of playing football, ever since I first kicked a ball aged five. I leave with my head held high.”

"I want to thank Atletico Madrid, who took a chance on me when I was 18, and Manchester City -- everyone knows who I feel about City and how well they treated me there."

He announced his retirement at a news conference on Wednesday, joined by Barca president Joan Laporta.

Former Barcelona star Lionel Messi had kind words for his former teammate via an Instagram tribute.

City also paid tribute to Aguero on social media







 


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