Sergio Aguero: Would Man City forward fit in at Chelsea?

Nicholas Hughes

• Updated: 19 May 2021 13:54 BST
• 4 min read

Sergio Aguero’s Man City future remains a large uncertainty, and Chelsea are believed to be ready to prize the Argentine away from the Etihad.

The 32-year-old has been a non-factor for the Citizens this season with persistent injury problems and a bout of COVID-19 halting his preparation.

Gradually gaining match sharpness now, Aguero last weekend netted his first Premier League goal of the season, dispatching a penalty against Fulham at Craven Cottage.

But with his Man City contract due to expire in the summer, it does remain increasingly likely that his 10^th season at the club will be his last.

And the Daily Mail have backed Chelsea to swoop in for the No.10’s signature and acquire him on a free transfer in the summer.

To get the cliché out of the way – on his day, Aguero remains one of the world’s top marksmen and capable of impacting a game at any time.

But the issue is how frequently ‘his day’ is going to come, and for Chelsea in particular his potential fit in the side appears problematic.

Thomas Tuchel has set up his Blues side to be tough to break down and quick on the counter attack – refer the Champions League win over Atletico Madrid at Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea only just shelled out well over £100 million on Timo Werner, Kai Havertz and Hakim Ziyech as attacking players, and still have Tammy Abraham and Olivier Giroud in their ranks.

Sergio Aguero at Chelsea would be a clash of styles

Aguero’s current lack of fitness and a distinct loss of mobility would clash with Tuchel’s fast-paced style both with and without the ball.

The German requires all of his players to be involved in the defensive phase of the game and he has already shown a preference for transitional moments and fluid attacking play.

Werner, while not yet substantially adding to his goal tally, has been crucial to the Blues’ play under Tuchel with his speed and ability to run the channels in wide areas, something that Aguero would struggle to do.

If the Blues are truly interested in Erling Haaland as well, then a move for Aguero would simply make no sense.

Perhaps the biggest criticism of Frank Lampard’s Chelsea tenure was his recruitment and the fact that he just signed good players, not players that fit a certain system.

For the Blues to sign Aguero would be to fall back into that hole. While still a top player, Aguero would be a difficult fit in Tuchel’s system and the club would do well to look elsewhere.