Sergio Aguero reveals a Premier League rival tried to sign him before Man City

Sergio Aguero is a legend at Manchester City, but things could have turned out very differently for him in England.

Despite delivering one of football’s all-time moments when he won City their first ever Premier League trophy in 2012, the former striker has revealed that league rivals Chelsea wanted to bring him to London.

Aguero signed for the Sky Blues from Atletico Madrid in 2011, having impressed during his five-year spell with the Spanish side where he scored 101 goals in 234 appearances in all competitions.

He won the Europa League with Atletico in 2010, but it was his performance in another European tie that season which caught the eye of one Premier League team.

Starting the 2009/10 campaign in the Champions League, the Colchoneros were drawn in the same group as Chelsea, and Aguero certainly left his mark on the Londoners.

In November 2009, the City hero scored twice off the bench in a 2-2 draw and he revealed this was enough to make them interested in securing his services.

Speaking to The Club, he said of the match: “Yeah, two goals against Chelsea. I started in the second half, I [scored] two goals. One was a volley and the other was a free-kick.

“After that game – maybe two months after – my agent said to me: ‘Chelsea is interested.’ 

Despite this, a move to the capital never materialised as the Blues never followed up on their initial interest.

The former striker explained: “I had [spent] just three years at Atletico Madrid but me, I love the Premier League, [I wanted] to play there, but Chelsea never showed interest after that.

“After that [match], [there was] interest but then my agent said: ‘Okay, maybe not.’”

The following season Chelsea signed Fernando Torres from Liverpool for £50m and Aguero, now 35, also revealed Frank Lampard, who joined him at City in 2014, had urged his club to make a play for him after the clash.

“He told the staff at Chelsea [after I played them] to sign Aguero.”

The Citizens’ fans will be relieved their record goalscorer could not ultimately make the move to west London and instead enjoyed a trophy-laden nine years in the blue half of Manchester.

Aguero was an instant hit as he scored 24 league goals in his maiden season at the club, helping them to become champions of England for the first time since 1968 with his last-gasp winner against QPR on the final day.

A further four league titles followed for the modern-day great, who rounded off his time at the Etihad in style by lifting the 2020/21 Premier League trophy.

Unfortunately for Aguero, however, his career ended prematurely as a heart problem forced him to retire from the game shortly after joining Barcelona from City.

The former star has since returned to the pitch in a slightly different capacity, featuring for his own team Kunisports in Gerard Pique’s seven-a-side King’s League.

And Aguero’s heroics whilst in Manchester will mean that his name will forever be cherished by City fans, and perhaps even more so now it has been revealed that he could have lined up in a Chelsea shirt.