Barcelona has made a contract proposal to Sergio Agüero, it reports TyC Sports Wednesday. The Manchester City attacker has an expiring contract and can be attracted on a transfer-free basis in the summer. His arrival would significantly increase the likelihood of a longer stay for Lionel Messi, new chairman Joan Laporta realizes. Messi and Agüero have a close friendship, but never played together in a club.
During his election campaign, Laporta already contacted Agüero to sound him out for a transfer, writes TyC Sports. In the hours after his election victory, the brand new president once again hinted in a message to Agüero that the striker is very welcome at Camp Nou. Laporta benefits from the interest being widely reported, because he wants to show Messi that he is doing his best to put the star player at ease. Messi has an expiring contract and sent for a transfer last summer. One of the biggest challenges for Laporta is to keep Barcelona’s six-time World Footballer of the Year.
It is now up to Agüero himself. In January wrote The Sun that the 32-year-old Argentinian can extend his contract with Manchester City, provided he agrees to a salary cut of no less than fifty percent. He currently earns £ 260,000 a week, which is roughly £ 304,000. Partly due to the corona crisis, Manchester City hopes that Agüero will agree to a halving of his fee. Agüero missed a large part of the season due to a hamstring injury, a knee injury and a coronavrius infection and only played six times in the Premier League this year. He stayed on the bench in the last two matches.
He may now also have the opportunity to play with Messi in a club for the first time. “Who wouldn’t want to be on the field with Messi?” Agüero wondered three weeks ago during a conversation with followers. Twitch. In 2018, Messi was asked if he wanted to leave Barcelona to play with Agüero again. “If we’re ever going to play together, it’s because he’s coming here,” said Messi at the time. Agüero would also have been approached informally by Paris Saint-Germain, Internazionale and Inter Miami.
Messi and Agüero played together in 2005 for the Argentina Under-20 at the World Cup in the Netherlands. They were the youngest two players in the squad. National coach Miguel Ángel Tojo chose to let them share a hotel room together. Miguel Ángel told Kun that he would be in the room with Messi, thinking that Sergio was destined to play football in Europe and that Messi’s experiences at Barcelona could be of value, “Daniel Frescó, author of Agüero’s biography, told us in 2018. Goal
Lionel Messi and Sergio Agüero during a training session from Argentina in 2007.
The two got on well on the field, but their bond was reinforced by a personal tragedy that unfolded for Agüero during the tournament. Emiliano Molina, like Agüero youth player at Independiente and one of his best friends, was injured in a car accident in Argentina. Agüero was very concerned and wanted constant updates on his friend. Argentina’s coaching staff tried to protect him. If bad news came through, the staff were happy to tell him personally.
One evening the news came in that Molina had died. Because the technical staff wanted to communicate the news to Agüero themselves, the WiFi connection in the hotel was switched off. However, the internet still worked in certain rooms. “Sergio was still asleep, but Messi woke up earlier and saw the news online,” said Frescó. “It was Messi who told Agüero that his childhood friend had died. The shock was enormous. They hugged and cried together. It was a tough time, and I think it strengthened their bond.”