Either way, this is pretty good:
Sergio Agüero: 'My dream is to say I'm the best player in the world'
Manchester City's Argentina striker says his ambition is to reach Messi's level and help his new club upstage neighbours United
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On a cool early evening in Manchester, high above a city that now defines his new world, Sergio Agüero and a football are inseparable. He cradles the ball as he talks, stroking it with a smile whenever he sounds exuberant or intrigued by the latest twist in a journey that has taken him from a rough quarter of Buenos Aires to Madrid and now Manchester. Here, in an old English industrial city that has audaciously reinvented itself, Agüero has begun his latest adventure with a deadly flourish.
Agüero and Manchester City open their Champions League campaign at home to Napoli on Wednesday. It may be the first time in 43 years that City have played at the peak of European football, but the way they have begun this season suggests they are in the mood for glory. Fired by outrageous wealth, the depth and quality of their squad is now epitomised by Agüero's cool brilliance and his rush of six goals in his first four games for the club.
"There is a very special feeling in Manchester right now," Agüero says in his Argentinian-accented Spanish. "I am beginning to understand how much this game against Napoli, and this whole competition, means to City's fans. They believe we can go a long way in this competition and I think they are right.
"We have all the conditions in place to go much further than anyone might have expected just a few months ago. But we are starting to appreciate that for the City fans, who have supported the club in difficult moments over many years, it will mean most to them if we do well."
Anticipating all that awaits the blue half of Manchester, Agüero talks animatedly while resting his chin on his football. But asked how his English lessons are progressing, he says, hesitantly, in English: "Lowly?"
"Slowly," it eventually emerges, is the word he meant to say. But Agüero looks as if he could kiss the ball when, chattering in Spanish about Diego Maradona, he realises that another tentative introduction of an English phrase, "my father‑in‑law", is correct.
"You know I phoned him, my father-in-law," Agüero says. "I said: 'Guess what? Guess who we've got in the group stages? Napoli.' Diego just shouted: 'Napoli!' He then said: 'OK, fantastic, that's a game I'd love to see.' Of course he made history in Napoli and he is still an idol there. He never got to play against Napoli in his own career so it's great another family member can now step in against his old team."
The night would be made complete in Manchester by the sudden arrival of Maradona. And, in an even more combustible setting, Napoli would surely erupt in late November if Maradona attends the return match. "He would love to be here," Agüero nods, "but his work in Dubai [where Maradona's surreal coaching career resumes with a club called Al-Wasl] meant he could not come to Manchester this week. The season in Dubai is starting and even Napoli is a little too far for him."
Did Agüero discuss his move from Atlético Madrid with Maradona before he signed for City in early July? "No," Agüero says. "There was actually a silent period between us when all the negotiations were going on. I couldn't really spread the word to anyone about what was happening. But a few days before I actually came here I called Diego and told him I was planning to join Man City. He just said: 'I wish you all the luck and hope you do well.'"
Agüero's parents are currently with him in Manchester but the presence next door of his wife, Giannina, and two-and-a-half-year-old son Benjamín, seems most striking. Giannina, Maradona's daughter, ensures she and her son with Sergio maintain a discreet distance. But, with a grandad like Maradona, and his own dad, Benjamín Agüero might turn out to be a decent player one day.
Compared to Carlos Tevez, who has trumpeted his family's apparent loathing of Manchester, the extended Agüero clan appears settled. "You know," the 23-year-old Agüero says, "ever since I got engaged to her, my wife told me: 'Look, I know football, I understand how it works. I will follow you wherever the game takes you.' That's exactly what happened. It's maybe not an easy city to adjust to – but I'm doing well so far and the main reason is down to my wife and family. They understand that this is an important club that made a decisive bet on me for their new project. It helps when you feel wanted not only at home – but at work.
"I've been with my wife for four years. Ever since we got married, and had Benjamín, they've been with me. My wife came here to Manchester four days after I signed. We've found a house we want to live in and it's obviously important they enjoy the city by themselves. They've started to explore Manchester and they're getting to know the new environment. They like it very much – as does the whole family. My mother and father can't be here as often because I have brothers living in Argentina but it's important I'm with Giannina and Benjamín.
"I actually think going from Buenos Aires to Madrid was more difficult. Of course me being only 18 then was a big factor but La Liga seemed much harder and more physical than Argentina. That was a big adjustment. Also, the Madrid weather was not so good. Coming to Manchester you could say the first week was awkward but then I started adjusting and my team-mates helped a lot. Now it's already OK."
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Emigre wrote:
Whether he joins or not, we'll be fine this season, and then in the Summer we will build a stunning team, the perfect blend of our youth players, stars and solid signings.
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The world is a beautiful place. You must go into it and love everyone. Try to make everyone happy, and bring peace and contentment everywhere you go. And so I became a waiter ... Well, it's not much of a philosophy I know ... but well ... fuck you! I can live my own life in my own way if I want to! Fuck off!