Manchester City striker Sergio Aguero said the surgery on his knee on Wednesday was ‘healthy’ with Argentina aiming to start their recovery process shortly. Whether he’ll play again this season remains uncertain though.
During the city’s 5-0 victory over Burnley Monday night, Aguero took a knock and already felt pain. He was tested and examined by specialist Dr. Ramon Cugat in Barcelona.
City boss Pep Guardiola prefers Dr. Cugat surgeon. He has done surgery on Kevin De Bruyne, Fernandinho, Aymeric Laporte, Ilkay Gundogan, and Benjamin Mendy. Like other stars in Barcelona, Guardiola itself has gone under the Spaniard’s knife in the past as well.
After the surgery, Aguero tweeted a picture of himself from his hospital bed next to the social media caption: “Everything went well, and I’m about to begin recovery soon. A big thank you for your support to Dr. Cugat and his team-and to you all.
This has already begun to circulate reports of a six-week layoff for such an injury, which would rule Aguero out for the rest of the 2019/20 Premier League season, scheduled to end on July 26 – just a month away.
The city will resume its campaign in the Champions League in early August with the four-time Premier League champions taking a 2-1 lead in their last 16 ties against Real Madrid. It is likely to touch and go if Aguero will be fit in time for the second leg, but if City holds on to their advantage and advance he could still play in later rounds.
The effect is already being destroyed by Guardiola, with Aguero needing to create match-fitness that would be lacking during his absence. It also means that he’ll be struggling to get back on the pitch at optimum conditions.
“Of course the effect is big; to win the Champions League you have to arrive at the best possible moment, in the best possible condition, but at the same time the situation is what it is,” explained Guardiola as he (remotely) was addressing the media this week.
“Teams often make a move forward with other players to overcome issues when this happens and that’s what we need to do. Hopefully, he will support us against Real Madrid-and maybe [too] for the next rounds if we’re strong enough to get through,” he added.
For the first time since 2011, when the Argentine joined the club, the other side of this injury could see Aguero not finish a season as the City Top scorer. He was the joint top scorer with Carlos Tevez in 2012/13 but was the overall top scorer for City in seven other seasons.
In 2019/20, Aguero is the leading marksman for City with 23 goals in all competitions, but Raheem Sterling is just two behind him and, in the absence of the latter, could overtake Aguero.
The city plays again on Thursday night at Stamford Bridge, facing Chelsea.
