There’s not much we don’t know about Sergio Aguero, especially since his arrival at Manchester City in 2011. After whipping up a storm in Spain with Atletico Madrid, the forward made a high-profile move to England and helped his side win the Premier League in 2011-12 after he scored the winning goal during stoppage time.
Since then, he has dominated the headlines with his goalscoring prowess and raised the bar for every striker that dares to ply their trade in England.
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But things have changed since then. He is no longer valued the way he was under Roberto Mancini and Manuel Pellegrini and before he potentially takes off for more favourable climes, there’s s no time like the present to better acquaint ourselves with the lesser known details about Aguero’s life.
In honour of his shirt number at City, here are 10 things you did not know about Sergio Aguero:
#10 ‘Kun’ Aguero
You may have noticed that the back of Sergio Aguero’s Manchester City jersey reads ‘Kun Aguero’. ‘Kun’ is by no means his given name but rather a nickname that he picked up as a kid. Born in Buenos Aires in 1988, his family moved to Florencio Varela where they wound up living next to the Chettis.
It was Jorge Chetti who came up with the name Kun because little Sergio couldn’t get enough of a Japenese anime series called Kum Kum that used to be broadcast on the public network there. Originally a manga, the series was about a troublesome caveboy and his family who lived at the foot of Kum Kum mountain.
It wasn't just his fascination with the character that earned him the moniker. Chetti started calling him Kun because he also resembled the main character greatly.
#9 Nerd alert?
The tattoo on Sergio Aguero’s right forearm may look inspired by Arabic but is in fact not a real language at all. When J.R.R. Tolkien created Middle Earth, he also created languages for his world one of which included the Elven script of Tengwar.
Inspired by Atletico Madrid teammate Fernando Torres who is a self-proclaimed Tolkienist and his tattoo in Tengwar which reads ‘Fernando’, Aguero got his name ‘Kun Aguero’ inked in the Elven language back when he was just 18-years-old.
The young Argentine forward wanted a design that he would never regret and even though he wanted to inscribe his parents' name on his hand, he eventually settled on his own name. The former Atletico Madrid striker also believes its mysterious origins make it harder for people to understand and therefore criticise it.
Back in 2014, Aguero told the official Manchester City website, “I am never going to regret it. It’s my own name. You know, at that age you may get a tattoo and then a few years later you end up thinking ‘Why did I get this tattoo!’ But to be honest, it looks great and nobody can understand it!”
#8 A Liverpool fan
Transfer rumours surrounding Aguero are a dime a dozen right now as Pep Guardiola has made his disinterest in the services of this particular Argentine very obvious. While it’s anyone’s guess where the 28-year-old will go at the end of the summer, there was a time when he would have given anything to play for Liverpool.
In his autobiography, ’Born to Rise’ he revealed how the Premier League side was his favourite and how much he loved watching Liverpool play, especially Michael Owens.
Aguero also insisted on taking Liverpool when he played football video games and had very specific ideas about how to utilise the players. In 2006, when he was still under contract at Independiente in Argentina, he said in an interview, “ I have been a Liverpool fan for as long as I can remember and it would be a dream to play there.”
He even admitted that he celebrated like his own team had won when the Reds beat AC Milan to the Champions League trophy in 2005. Liverpool fans would do well to remember this once the transfer window opens in the summer.
#7 Leonel, not Lionel
Aguero shares a name with a certain other Argentine forward who is one of his closest friends. As a kid, he was given the middle name of Leonel by his parents. If you’re wondering why it’s not the same spelling as a certain other Lionel, it’s because there was a law against the name in Buenos Aires where he was born and grew up.
Believe it or not but there are actual regulations about names that can be used in the South American country and Lionel was not on an approved list of names in the capital forcing his parents to pick ‘Leonel’ instead. However, no such law about the name existed in Rosario where Messi grew up, ergo the variation in the spelling.
#6 In his father’s image
Playing football was in Aguero’s blood as the Argentine’s father was quite the prolific goalscorer himself in his youth. Playing in empty lots which were designated as football fields, Leonel del Castillo played for various sports club in his hometown of Tucuman.
Even though his father never played in a professional capacity due to mitigating circumstances, he continued playing for local sides as a means of earning extra money apart from working as a baker. His father even became a part of the reserve team of San Martin from Tucuman, one of the biggest sides of the locality.
#5 A close call before he was even born!
Sergio’s mother, Adriano Aguero may have never had the good fortune of giving birth to her second born had she not escaped a devastating flood in Argentina. When she was six months pregnant with the former Independiente player, their small home was completely flooded with water that was as high as one metre.
With no option but to evacuate their home immediately, Adriana, Leonel and their baby daughter managed to leave their home without coming to any further harm themselves. It’s hard to imagine what would have happened had they not escaped on time.
#4 Aguero’s superstitions
Aguero has a few pet superstitions that the Argentine has refused to give up since his earliest days in football when he started playing for Independiente. Not only does the Manchester City forward believe in relaxing and getting his mind off the game the night before with friends and family, he has to get a good night’s sleep.
Aguero also said that he had a habit of rubbing his palms together as he walks up to the pitch before kick-off. The 28-year-old even joined Messi in observing a specific superstition. The Argentine squad held the belief that keeping a beard would help them break their run of bad luck ahead of the Copa America tournament in 2016.
Speaking to Nacion, he said, “We are all committed... Leo said to me: 'We're going to leave [the beard] and see how it goes.' And well, we've left it. We made a pact with him and here we are. I've left if for a few days and we'll see how it grows.” Needless to say, it didn’t work.
#3 When Maradona became family
Everyone knows Sergio Aguero married Diego Maradona’s daughter Giannina in 2008 and had a son, Benjamin the following year. But little do people know that the pair split up just four years after their relationship commenced.
Tired of his partying and constant rumours about affairs with other women, Giannina separated from her husband in 2013 when the star was in Manchester and his estranged wife and son continued living in Madrid.
In fact, Aguero was spotted on a date with Argentine pop star Karina Tejeda just two months after he split with the mother of his child. As Aguero continued to live in England, Maradona’s youngest daughter moved back to their native country with his son. In fact, Aguero was forced to sue Giannina after he claimed she refused to let him meet their son.
The break-up did not go down well with Maradona either who called Aguero a ‘wimp’ and refused to call him by name for his behaviour on the occasion of his 53rd birthday back in 2013.
Also Read: Sergio Aguero, Manchester City, and the dying value of loyalty
#2 Breaking records from day one
Aguero signed for Atletico Independiente as a nine-year-old and made his first professional debut at the age of 15 years and 35 days in 2003. It so happened that when his manager, Oscar Ruggeri decided to bring him on as a substitute for Emanuel Rivas in the 69th minute, he helped the future star set the record of being the youngest debutante in top-flight Argentine football.
Call it coincidence or irony, but he broke the earlier record which had been set by none other than the legendary Maradona himself.
#1 Aguero’s final destination
Aguero’s future may be uncertain now but he has no doubt in his mind about where he will end his career. Irrespective of all the accolades he has earned in Spain and especially in England and whatever may happen in the future (the media has him linked with a move to Real Madrid this summer), the Argentine is determined to go back to Argentina to see out his career like his ‘brother’ Lionel Messi.
Aguero has repeatedly gone on record to say that he would like to play at Independiente as his career draws to a close, the place where it all began for the fiery forward. And if you think he’s just doing lip-service to sound loyal, think again. The forward bought his financially ailing former club a training ground just last year.
Also Read: 5 reasons Real Madrid should buy Sergio Aguero over Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang
