When Sergio Aguero arrived at Manchester City in 2011, he came with a £35 million pricetag and a reputation as one of the planet’s best strikers and the perfect player for the ambitious oil-rich club to kick on with.
While City had not yet begun hoovering up Premier League titles, their FA Cup win at the end of the 2010/11 season would prove to be a harbinger of things to come.
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Aguero on beating Manchester United
For a generation, City had lived in the shadow of their rivals United, with Aguero only too aware of the mentality shift that was needed if they were to knock their neighbours off their perch.
“Of course, it became a very, very correct decision to join the club, when we finished my first season as champions,” Aguero recalls to FourFourTwo. “That was a very important title for Manchester City.”
That title came at the end of a remarkable season for both club and player, with Aguero ending the campaign in the most dramatic fashion possible, when he netted his iconic title-sealing injury-time winner against QPR.
While this is the kind of moment that defines a whole career, Aguero also has another source of satisfaction when he looks back at the season – a remarkable Premier League double against Manchester United.
The former Atletico Madrid man netted in City’s 6-1 trashing of their bitter rivals at Old Trafford in October, before a vital 1-0 win at the Etihad at the end of April which proved to be a pivotal match in the title race.
“I have the best memories of the games against Manchester United that season,” he continues. “Really importantly, we won them both. At that time, City were used to the idea that United were always better than them, and City could never beat them.”
For Aguero, getting out of this mindset was crucial.
“When I started to face United, my mindset was ‘This has to change – we have to think that we can beat them, that we can win the Manchester derby’.
“And well, that’s how it was. The team and I ended up doing well. In those games against United, I was able to fully concentrate. In my mind I always thought ‘I have to score a goal against United, because we need to win this game’.
“I was really focused, and luckily the matches often went pretty well.”