There is a famous saying in football; “goals win games” which only means that a team’s primary goalscorer’s quality and form is integral to the performance of such a team.
There is an immense scarcity of world-class strikers in the world right now, and the few are becoming crucial to their team’s ambitions. One of these strikers is Manchester City’s elite marksman, Sergio Kun Aguero.
The Citizens’ squad is riddled with creative talent, much more than they can possibly field at any given time. The likes of David Silva, Raheem Sterling, Jesus Navas, Yaya Toure, Samir Nasri, Ilkay Gundogan and Kevin de Bruyne.
You can pick and choose between any of these star midfielders, and still have more than enough to get the job done against most opponents.
All these technically gifted midfielders need a striker to put the chances they create in the back of the net and Aguero can do just that.
His importance is however underlined by the fact that his deputies; Wilfried Bony and Kelechi Ihenacho are noticeably a step down in quality from the Argentine striker, meaning City are not quite the same when he’s not on the pitch.
Manager Pep Guardiola knows that his beautiful football and blitz speed passing requires at least one reliable goal scorer to put the ball into the back of the net.
At Barcelona, it was the likes of Samuel Eto’o, Lionel Messi and Thierry Henry while at Bayern Munich, it was Robert Lewandowski and Thomas Muller. In Manchester City, the only elite goal scorer Guardiola has is Kun Aguero, making him more valuable than any other striker he has ever worked with.
More often than not, the difference between beautiful football and sterile passing is the ability to find the back of the net.
Without even speculating on the future, the importance of Kun Aguero to Manchester City cannot be overestimated.
Aguero currently holds the club awards for; Most goals scored in the Premier League (102), Most goals scored in European Competition (21), most goals scored in UEFA Champions League (17), Most goals scored in a single Premier League season (26), Most goals scored in a single Champions League season (6), most goals scored in a single Premier League game (5), and most goals scored in a Champions League game (3).
How lethal Kun Aguero is in front of goal can be gauged from the facts that he tops the Premier League All Time Minute/Goals ratio, with 107.1 minutes/goal. Such an excellent performance arguably makes him greater than legends like Alan Shearer, Thierry Henry and Ruud Van Nistelrooy.
Manchester City, under Pep Guardiola, are going to play on the front foot, as they attempt to monopolise possession and create chances.
Everyone expects the new Spanish manager to build a team fine-tuned to compete both in England and in Europe, and they will need goals to do this. Keeping the little Argentine forward fit and firing will be critical to whatever Manchester City and Pep Guardiola hope to accomplish this season.