The five moments that made Manchester City-bound Sergio Aguero a superstar striker

Manchester City are on the brink of closing the record £38 million signing of Sergio ‘Kun’ Aguero from Atletico Madrid on a five-year contract.

Whether the striker will act as a direct replacement or an initial team-mate to fellow Argentina international Carlos Tevez at Eastlands remains to be seen as another controversial summer of transfer sagas rolls on.

But what is certain is that despite having only just arrived at the tender age of 23, Aguero has already established himself as one of world football’s top talents.

As he prepares to embark upon a new chapter of his career in the Premier League, Goal.com charts the player’s rise to stardom from his humble roots in Buenos Aires to the life in the spotlight which he enjoys today.

Having been born to a relatively poor family, Aguero took to football at a young age and certainly proved to have prodigious talent. By the age of nine, he had been brought into the youth ranks at Independiente – one of Argentina’s biggest clubs.

His side clearly liked what they saw, and amazingly Aguero made his first-team debut aged just 15 years and 35 days in July 2003 – beating an Argentine top-flight record previously held by a certain Diego Maradona.

Two years of fleeting appearances followed, before he truly marked his arrival as one of the game’s hottest properties in a remarkable 18-month spell from the start of 2005.

Still in his teens, the striker grabbed 18 goals in just 36 games during what proved to be his final season at his boyhood side – but there was one standout moment in which he truly announced his potential.

In September 2005 in a match against Independiente’s fiercest rivals Racing Club, Aguero produced a virtuoso performance in a stunning 4-0 victory. The highlight was an incredible solo goal, where he carried the ball from his own half before finding the net, earning him permanent cult status with his side’s fans.

Months later, still aged 17, Atletico Madrid won the race between a number of Europe’s top clubs to land the player for a massive fee of €23 million (£20.2m), money which helped Independiente to refurbish their aging stadium and ease their rising levels of debt.

Aguero didn’t take much time to settle in at the Vicente Calderon – after scoring his first goal, then coach Javier Aguirre said of the starlet: “Kun is a crack a big star and without him, my job would be in jeopardy.”

He followed that up with a second goal shortly after – a controversial moment when he handled the ball to score a vital winner against Recreativo.

After showing flashes of brilliance in his first campaign, the following two seasons saw Aguero impress hugely. In just his second year with Atleti, he netted 27 times in all competitions and followed that up with another 21 in the next as his mix of clinical finishing, impressive skill and creative talent saw him instantly earn his new fans’ acclaim.

What really raised Aguero to a new level in the eyes of a European audience, however, were two stunning performances against Spanish heavyweights Barcelona.

In March 2008, the forward produced arguably his best performance for the club, earning the man of the match award in a comprehensive 4-2 win. Scoring twice, he also laid on an assist and won a penalty for the other goal in a masterful individual display.

With the world watching, he repeated the trick a year later. In March 2009, just two months before the Barca side managed by Pep Guardiola would complete an historic treble, Aguero and strike partner Diego Forlan caused havoc, striking twice apiece in a remarkable 4-3 victory – a match which remains the only time Barca have conceded four goals in Guardiola’s tenure.

The partnership with Forlan would continue to thrive, but the two performances against Barca had heralded the arrival of a truly special star in Spanish football.

While his performances for Atletico were earning him more than enough attention, the young forward’s personal life was also filling the column inches as his career progressed.

Aguero was dating, and later married, Giannina Maradona – the youngest daughter of Diego – who was intriguingly at the time also the manager of Argentina’s national team.

The union linked him inextricably with Argentina’s most vaunted footballer of all time and one of the Gods of the game.

Soon, Diego, as well as combining the roles of Aguero’s coach and father-in-law, was welcoming a new grandson into the world when Giannina gave birth to the couple’s son, Benjamin, in February 2009.

Both Diego and Kun attended the birth in Madrid and Aguero soon took his son onto the pitch to be paraded during the pre-match formalities of Argentina’s World Cup qualifier against Venezuela.

As he enjoys a mix of the genes of Diego Maradona and Sergio Aguero, you have to think Benjamin has every chance of becoming a success in the game.

Both will be hoping Benjamin will have the talent to keep the dynasty going long after the new City man has hung up his boots.

The 2009-10 season was yet another good one for Aguero. The year would produce another 20-goal haul, including six in Europe as he helped his side to a famous victory in the Europa League.

His moment of the season came in the Hamburg final as he assisted both Forlan goals – including the dramatic extra-time winner – to seal a 2-1 win for Atletico over Fulham and his first trophy in senior football – Atleti’s first major silverware since back in 1996.

He was up to his old tricks in the Uefa Super Cup final against Champions League winners Inter at the start of the following season. Aguero impressed as his side caused a major upset by winning 2-0 to secure the trophy in Monaco, scoring the clinching second goal having earlier set up the first.

Atletico’s season would falter from then as they struggled to live up to expectations, but the striker continued to fire – netting 27 times in all competitions and being hailed as the man carrying his team with a string of inspirational performances.

He was named as the club’s vice-captain after signing a new contract in January and Atleti recovered from a dreadful start to finish in the Europa League places, but it will be his exploits in Hamburg that stand out as he reflects on his career in Spanish football.

Up until this summer, Aguero’s best moments in an Argentina shirt had arrived at youth level, either with his player of the tournament performance as a teenager when he netted six goals in seven games to lead his side to victory at the Under-20 World Cup or when he played a crucial role to help the country’s under-23 team to 2008 Olympic Gold in Beijing.

As far as the senior side had gone, Aguero had always been a regular fixture in the squads for his country since debuting well back in 2006 and certainly enjoyed some moments of success, but the wealth of attacking options meant he had never emerged as a leading man.

For any other country he would’ve been, but with the likes of Lionel Messi, Carlos Tevez, Diego Milito and Gonzalo Higuain vying for a place in the team, Aguero struggled to get onto the pitch during the meaningful moments at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa – even with Maradona as the coach.

It was a case of Argentina expects this summer as they looked to end a trophy drought at senior level spanning almost two decades by hosting the Copa America, and Sergio Batista’s men were quickly installed as favourites.

But as his side edged towards an embarrassing group stage exit it was Aguero – and not Ballon d’Or winner Messi – who came to the rescue. Having found himself in the familiar position of the substitutes’ bench in the opening game, he came on and scored a brilliant volley to grab a draw against Bolivia.

That wasn’t enough to earn him a start in the Colombia draw that followed, but Aguero was named on the teamsheet for the must-win clash with Costa Rica and he rewarded his country with a brace to ensure their progression to the knockout phase.

Even Aguero couldn’t save Argentina from an eventual quarter-finals exit to Uruguay and Batista lost his job as a result of the sub-standard performances.

As for Kun – as well as putting another few million on top of his transfer value – he had given notice to the next coach that he is also ready to take the international game by storm.