Manchester City legend Sergio Aguero says he was aware of interest from Chelsea prior to moving to the Etihad.

The striker’s Atletico Madrid team faced the Blues in the group stages of the 2009/10 Champions League. He scored two goals after coming on as a substitute in a 2-2 draw and speaking to The Club, Aguero revealed that an enquiry was made to his agent two months after the match:

“I did two goals. One was a volley and the other was a free-kick. Yeah, yeah, yeah. After that game, two months after, my agent said to me, ‘Chelsea is interested.’ So, I had just three years at Atletico Madrid but me, I love the Premier League, to play there but Chelsea never showed interest after that. After that, interest but then my agent said, ‘Okay, maybe not’.”

It is somewhat surprising that Chelsea did not follow up on their interest in Aguero. The Argentinian international ultimately ended up joining the Cityzens for £35m about 18 months later and the rest they say is history.

Chelsea’s pursuit was at the behest of one of former Aguero’s teammates

Speaking more about the Blues’ interest, the forward went on to confirm that Frank Lampard was the driving force behind the London club making an enquiry, after recommending him as a potential transfer target.

“I spoke about that with Frank Lampard because Lampard played in Man City and then he said when we played against him, he told the staff at Chelsea to sign Aguero.”

City benefited hugely from Chelsea’s decision

Of course, you can’t know for sure if Aguero would have had as much success at Stamford Bridge, but the fact that he ultimately joined City instead proved a pivotal moment.

The Argentine went on to be the Manchester club’s all-time top scorer, winning multiple trophies and becoming one of the best strikers of the Premier League era in the process.