10 Best Strikers Of The 21st Century
6. Sergio Agüero
Total career goals: 405 and counting
Following the footsteps of Fernando Torres, Sergio Agüero established himself at Atlético Madrid (after showing phenomenal promise in Argentina), before earning a move to an English top tier club. Only, unlike the Spaniard whose career epitomizes the term downfall, no other term suits El Kun better than consistency.
It actually seems easier for Agüero to put the ball in the top corner than to miss the target. We’re so used to see him score 20 goals-more a season that we barely even acknowledge just how exceptional a feat that is. He is currently 15 goals away from overtaking Thierry Henry, Frank Lampard and Andy Cole and reaching the podium of the Prem’s all-time top scorers (behind Wayne Rooney and the untouchable Alan Shearer). Speaking of Shearer, Agüero has already equaled his record of 11 Premier League hat-tricks, and it’s almost guaranteed he’ll surpass it.
City managers come and go, but Agüero’s the mainstay of their attack. Some appear to believe he’s somewhat fell off under Guardiola, due to competition from Gabriel Jesus. In reality, Aguero plays just as much as he used to, and has already scored more than a 100 goals under the Spaniard’s tenure.
The only thing tarnishing his credentials is that when he’s not wearing that sky-blue shirt, or when he’s wearing it outside of England, his superpowers somewhat disappear. In the Premier League, it seems like he’s playing with a cheat code. In the CL or with Argentina, he’s lackluster. He has scored 34 goals with City in Europe, but never really had the impact fans would’ve hoped for, the match-winning displays against Barcelona, Real Madrid, Monaco or Liverpool that would’ve made him a Champions League hero. As for Argentina, his first World Cup goals came in 2018, which was his third World Cup. Given his abilities, he could’ve been Argentina’s star Number 9 this decade but always struggled to make his mark. At the 2014 World Cup, after disappointing group stages performances, he was taken out of the starting XI in favor of… Ezequiel Lavezzi. Says it all, right?