Since joining Manchester City from Atletico Madrid in 2011, Sergio Aguero has collected
silverware on nine occasions, including winning the Premier League four times. He is City’s
all-time leading scorer with a remarkable 244 goals, 15 of which have come in just 19
appearances against Chelsea.
There is no doubt Aguero has been a major thorn in the west London club’s side, but
the fortunes of both clubs might have worked out differently had Chelsea gone through with
plans to sign him from Atletico first.
A decade ago, Aguero looked bound for Stamford Bridge. Aged just 21, he was already making
a big impression in Spain and Chelsea were looking to make a marquee signing to freshen
up their attack.
Nicolas Anelka finished the 2008-09 campaign as the Premier League’s leading scorer,
Didier Drogba was still in his pomp and Salomon Kalou provided reasonable back-up. Still,
the search for long-term replacements was under way.
Aguero was the one they really wanted. At the time Chelsea made their first enquiry,
in the 2009 summer window, he had already found the net 55 times for Atletico.
The club were initially put off by the cost. Not only were the La Liga club demanding a
fee in excess of £40 million, which would have been a Premier League record, but the
forward’s representatives were asking that he become the club’s highest earner, too.
Things were put on hold, and then the two clubs were drawn together in the group stages
of the 2009-10 Champions League. Aguero made little impression as Chelsea swept
Atletico aside 4-0 at home and perhaps some in the boardroom wondered what all the fuss
was about. In the rematch at the Vicente Calderon a fortnight
later, they had their answer.
Aguero came on in the second half to put the hosts in front with a superb volley. A fine
brace from Drogba appeared to have secured Chelsea all three points, only for Atletico’s
talisman to curl a 25-yard free kick beyond Petr Cech in the 90th minute.
“I like him,” Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti said afterwards with a knowing grin. “I
think Aguero can play with Drogba, for sure.”
Within a few weeks, negotiations had resumed and Chelsea were getting encouraging signals
from those close to the player that he would be willing to make the move. It seemed only
a matter of time before a deal was completed.
Yet the January window came and went with no agreement. Chelsea made an offer of £30
million, but that was significantly below Atletico’s asking price.
There was also a great reluctance to pay the £5 million fee his agent Bruno Satin requested
for his role in the process. Despite his vast wealth, Abramovich has grown increasingly
frustrated with the amount of money being spent on players’ representatives over the
years.
This was also a period when players in the Chelsea dressing room had a lot of influence.
The Athletic understands that John Terry wasn’t a huge fan of Aguero’s abilities and passed
that opinion on to the powerbrokers at the club. Indeed, after playing against him on
both occasions in the Champions League, Terry wasn’t overly impressed by Aguero’s movement.
It is believed the ex-England centre-half was a greater admirer of David Villa, who
was making a big impression at Valencia and also seemed for sale at the right price.
Villa was one of the names Terry said he hoped Chelsea would target when speaking after winning
the FA Cup Final against Everton in May 2009.
He said: “I think we’ll see Chelsea back and competing for the top players who are
out there at the moment. The likes of Franck Ribery, David Villa. These are the kind of
players we want to attract.
“There needs to be a couple of changes, a few players brought in and a few who haven’t
played in the last couple of years moved on.. Hopefully Roman will listen and things will
get done.”
Despite Terry’s reservations over his qualities and Chelsea’s about the price, the possibility
of Aguero’s transfer remained.
He was still a hot prospect and helped Atletico win the Europa League in 2010.
He hadn’t given up on a switch either: “Chelsea are a great club”, he said in April of that
year. “They have become one of the most feared in Europe over recent years.”
“London would be a really amazing city to live in as well,” he added. “Myself and
my wife could be really happy there.”
By now though, Chelsea had their eyes on another potential world-class star. In the summer
of 2010, they opened talks with Santos over acquiring an 18-year-old taking Brazilian
football by storm. Neymar. There was a buy-out clause of £28.7 million
but, just as with Aguero, Chelsea didn’t want to pay the asking price. Bids of £17
million and £22 million were rejected. There were reports that personal terms had
already been agreed at a meeting between the player, his agent and Chelsea representatives
in New York. Neymar’s father, Neymar da Silva, made it pretty clear what was wanted.
“For us to go to England would be wonderful,” he said.
But Santos president Luis Alvaro de Oliveira Riberio was not happy with how things were
being conducted.
He said: “Chelsea sent us a transfer proposal which was rejected immediately, but the harassment
continues. Considering the ethics which clubs are supposed to adhere to, this is completely
intolerable and Santos will go to defend its interests at FIFA.
“On Wednesday there was a telephone enquiry. Chelsea got in contact with my secretary and
asked for our fax number. This does not mean they have opened negotiations. Santos are
not interested in selling Neymar for any amount of money.”
In the end, the pursuit of Neymar came to nothing.
As for Aguero, the last link to him came in January 2011 when the BBC reported Chelsea
had lodged a £52 million joint offer for him and defender Diego Godin.
Chelsea did make an expensive double purchase a few days later that sent shockwaves around
the Premier League, but neither Atletico player was involved. Fernando Torres arrived from
Liverpool for £50 million, while they paid Benfica £25 million for David Luiz.
It was a signal of intent that Abramovich, despite his misgivings about an over-inflated
market, was still willing to spend big. It didn’t pay off as far as Torres was concerned.
In contrast, Aguero has been a huge success at City. Figures published by Football Leaks
in 2016 suggested he ended up costing only an initial £28.5 million in the summer 0f
2011. Even taking into account the bonus sums triggered since, the agents’ fees and the
vast wages earned over the past eight years, it has proven to be outstanding business.