Pep Guardiola compares Sergio Aguero to Diego Maradona and Lionel Messi | OneFootball

Sergio Aguero announced his retirement from football this afternoon after a stellar career that saw him represent Independiente, Atletico Madrid, Manchester City, Barcelona and, of course, the Argentine national team.

Aguero joined Barcelona from City this summer, but has been forced to call an end to his career at the age of just 33 due to arrhythmia. The centre-forward, one of the most talented we’ve ever seen, scored 260 goals in 390 games for City, 100 in 230 for Atletico, 18 in 38 for Independiente and one in five for Barcelona. He also scored 41 in 101 for Argentina.

Pep Guardiola attended Aguero’s retirement ceremony this afternoon, and knows him well having coached him for five seasons at City. He compared him to his great friend, Lionel Messi, and his ex-father-in-law, Diego Maradona, two footballers widely considered to be among the greatest of all time.

“Maradona conquered Italy, Messi did it in Spain and Aguero did it in England,” Guardiola said to ESPN Argentina in comments carried by Sam Lee. “His numbers speak for themselves.” And indeed, like Maradona at Napoli and Messi at Barcelona, Aguero was absolutely key to the four Premier League titles he won with City during his decade at the club.