Haaland is getting close to half of Aguero’s goal total for Man City and has done it in much less time – and Aguero has made his feelings clear on what it would mean if he was to break it
Sergio Aguero wants “phenomenon” Erling Haaland to get Manchester City back on track – and then go and break his goals record. Haaland, who has scored 119 times in his three seasons since joining City, is already almost halfway to equalling Aguero’s 260 goals scored across a 10-year career at the Etihad.
Goals have still been on tap for Haaland this season despite Pep Guardiola’s side’s struggles on the pitch. City face a battle to get into the Champions League places and will drop to sixth in the Premier League if Newcastle win their game in hand. And Aguero – who retired in late 2021 following a diagnosis of cardiac arrhythmia during his time at Barcelona – reckons Haaland should see out his contract until the summer of 2034 and replace him as City’s most iconic striker.
Asked if he thinks Haaland will break his record, Aguero said: “I hope so! He’s a great player, he’s very close. I think he can be the one to get close to the goals I have, or even pass me. That’s a very nice thing in sport, and I hope that all those goals that he can score will help Manchester City to win titles.
“I think he will have many more successes, with goals and with titles. The goals can give him a record which can stay in history. For me, he’s a phenomenon, he’s a great scorer and I hope he stays at City and scores a lot of goals.”
Five of City’s eight Premier League titles were won with Aguero in the side, but they won’t be repeating history and retaining the crown this season. City have lost nine league games already this season; you have to go back to 2008/2009 since the last time they lost more than 10 in a single campaign.
But Aguero thinks a reset of expectations might not be the worst thing for the club. “The situation is not good, but I think that at some point this was going to happen,” Aguero said. “I think that Manchester City are one of the best teams in the world.
“At the end of the day, a bad season for a big team is obviously a complicated situation, but the thing you have to remember with Manchester City is that they’ve been winning titles for many years. What Guardiola did, winning titles so often, I don’t think anyone has done that before.
“That’s a merit in itself and something that we have to value because normally, winning everything in season one, two, three, four and then one doesn’t go well, I don’t think it’s a bad thing.”
Aguero now largely spends his working days as an entrepreneur. During the recent Formula E Evo Sessions – where got behind the wheel of current world champion Pascal Wehrlein’s race car – he revealed that he had began talks over starting a Formula E team of his own.
But Aguero wishes that he could still be out on the pitch – and while his career was cut short for health reasons, he had hoped to stay at City for longer before he was shown the door.
“I had the contract until 2021 and Manchester City, five or six months before, told me that they weren’t going to renew me. So I started looking for a club and that’s how it was. Obviously, I wanted to continue because for me, City was my home. I wanted maybe one more year especially because I was willing to be on the bench if necessary.
“In the last year I had already been playing occasionally with Pep, so I was willing to help from another side because I felt that staying one more year in the Premier League, even from the bench and playing little, would serve me physically for the World Cup.
“But you have to understand that the club also needed changes. It was a decision of the club and I think it was also very correct, because they also needed a replacement and maybe staying at City to be there as a substitute wasn’t the right thing for the club.
“So the best thing was to look for a club and that’s how it was. It was their decision and I obviously took it very well.”
- Sergio Aguero is taking part in Formula E’s Evo Sessions. Follow his journey across social media @fiaformulae
