Chelsea 'lead race' to sign Sergio Aguero on free transfer

Chelsea are in ‘prime position’ to sign Manchester City legend Sergio Aguero when he leaves the Etihad Stadium at the end of this season, with the soon to be 33-year-old thought to still be keen on playing in the Premier League.

It was announced earlier this week that Aguero, who joined City in 2011 and has become the club’s all-time leading goalscorer by some distance, will not be signing a new contract in Manchester and will leave as a free agent when his current deal expires in June.

The likes of Barcelona, Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain have been linked with the Argentine, who is also the Premier League’s all-time leading foreign goalscorer ahead of Thierry Henry, but Chelsea could end up being his most likely destination.

Despite his long-term affiliation with City, the Daily Mail reports that Aguero is ‘desperate’ to carry on playing in the Premier League. He is said to believe he still has plenty to offer in the division and his preference now would be to join another English side.

Chelsea are in the market for a new forward, regardless of investing over £120m in Timo Werner and Kai Havertz last summer, and have been eyeing Erling Haaland. But competition for the Norwegian’s signature will be extremely fierce and Aguero could be a strong short-term option.

The Mail notes that Chelsea were interested in the Argentine way back in 2011 when he first moved to City from Atletico Madrid in a £38m deal and are the only Premier League side with both the resources to sign him and the desire to do so.

Manchester United and Liverpool are also billed as potential destinations in terms of the finances, but Aguero would never risk his relationship and legacy among City fans by joining the former, while the latter are more focused on securing at least one new long-term centre-back.

Should Chelsea end up signing Aguero it would be something of a roles reversed situation from 2014 when City brought in Frank Lampard following his legendary 13-year spell at Stamford Bridge.

Lampard initially joined MLS club New York City, part of the worldwide City Football Group, when he left Chelsea in the summer of 2014. But rather than link up with his new team midway through the 2014 MLS season, he immediately moved to Manchester City on ‘loan’.

The deal was later extended to cover the whole of the 2014/15 Premier League season, which meant Lampard then controversially also missed the start of the 2015 MLS season with New York. It was suspected at the time that he was never even registered with MLS until he actually arrived in New York as his salary did not appear on the league’s annual published list while he was on ‘loan’.

Lampard even famously scored against Chelsea during his time with City.

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