Having remained away from the game after experiencing chest discomfort during a league fixture against Alaves, Barcelona striker Sergio Aguero will be announcing his retirement from professional football on Wednesday, according to Sky Sports.
It is believed that the Argentine tried his best to fight his way through, but he was diagnosed with cardiac arrhythmia and is medically ineligible to take the football field. He had complained of experiencing pain in his chest during the Alaves fixture, which happened on October 31. The forward was substituted by Philippe Coutinho as Barcelona finished the game with a 1-1 draw.
He had also felt some difficulty in breathing, which all prompted swift action from the medical department. A stretcher was on the pitch to carry the player off the field, but he was able to walk his way out. In a statement released by the Catalan club, it was confirmed that the forward was being subjected to a diagnostic and therapeutic process overseen by Dr Josep Brugada.
Although irregular heartbeat is a commonly observed facet among individuals, on certain occasions, the heartbeat not being in rhythm can be life-threatening, especially for athletes. Marca reporter Gerard Romero had reported previously, around a couple of weeks ago, that the player was contemplating announcing his retirement, and it could finally be happening this Wednesday.
Aguero joined the club on a free transfer in August 2020 after his contract with Manchester City had come to an end. He had spent a lot of the early season nursing a knee injury, and once he came back, he made five appearances for the club, scoring once against Real Madrid. He made one appearance in the Champions League as well.
The Argentine was very eagerly looking forward to sharing the dressing room with his national teammate Lionel Messi, but as it turned out, due to the financial constraints the club are facing, Messi was forced to make his way out. He ended up joining PSG, which according to many reporters, had infuriated the former City footballer.
Aguero came to prominence in Spain during his stint with Atletico Madrid. He had joined the club in 2006 and spent five seasons with them and scored 102 times across 234 appearances across all competitions. This caught the attention of City’s new boss Roberto Mancini, who recruited him in 2011 for a fee of around 35 million pounds.
He had scored twice on his debut for the blues of Manchester and ended up scoring the most iconic goal in Premier League history on the final day of the season against Queens Park Rangers, which helped them edge city rivals Manchester United to win the league title, their first in 43 years. He added four more league titles to his cabinet during his time with the club and excelled under Manuel Pellegrini and Pep Guardiola.
In his final season at the club, Aguero managed to breach Thierry Henry’s 175-goal tally to become the greatest overseas goal-scorer in the English league. In January 2020, his hat-trick against Aston Villa also surpassed Alan Shearer’s tally of 11 hat-tricks in the league, and Aguero finished with one more than the former Newcastle United legend.
He averages a goal every 108 minutes, the best in the history of Premier League among players ten or more goals, which reeks of the sensational impact he has had over the years for the franchise. He was widely regarded as the greatest-ever City player, even ahead of the likes of Colin Bell, Vincent Kompany and David Silva for the surreal impact he had on the club.
