We continue our look at the PFA Player of the Year award contenders with Sergio Aguero
Tuesday 19 March 2019 10:14, UK
Sergio Aguero is one of the leading contenders for the PFA Player of the Year award. Would the Manchester City striker be a deserving winner?
Sergio Aguero's brilliance is somewhat taken for granted in the Premier League. Despite reaching the 30-goal mark in four separate seasons with Manchester City, and despite being among the top 10 scorers in Premier League history, he has only been named in the PFA Team of the Year once and has never won a Player of the Year award.
Could this be the year that changes? Aguero seemed to be facing an uncertain future at City last season, but he has transformed his game to suit Pep Guardiola's style and remains as clinical as ever in front of goal, too. The Argentine has led their title charge from the front. His contentious winner in City's FA Cup quarter-final win over Swansea was his 28th goal of the campaign in all competitions.
His standout moments this season include three Premier League hat-tricks, the first coming against Huddersfield back in August and the second and third coming in the space of a week against big-six rivals Arsenal and Chelsea in February. If City end up pipping Liverpool to the title, Aguero is sure to be a strong contender.
The statistic that matters, of course, is that Aguero is this season's Premier League top scorer with 18 goals. Even more impressive, however, is that those goals have come at a rate of one every 107.3 minutes. It is the best strike rate in the division by a considerable distance and it underlines just how effective the Argentine has been.
Aguero has also provided six assists, meaning he only needs two more to match his highest total in a Premier League season, and he also ranks among the top five players in the division for shots (95) and touches in the opposition box (178).
"Since I've been here, I've never seen him like this," Pep Guardiola told Sky Sports at the start of the season. "The spirit since he came back from the holidays after the World Cup... he is in incredible condition.
"With the ball and without the ball, he is sharp and intelligent and, of course, his talent to score goals is always there."
"He's just clever. He's switched on, he's alive," Jamie Carragher said on Sky Sports after Aguero's recent hat-trick against Chelsea.
"I've played against him and at times he can be quiet in a game, but before you know it something just happens. In terms of a goalscorer, he's the greatest we've seen in the Premier League."
Graeme Souness added: "He does work a lot harder now than he ever did. The manager has lit the fire under him.
"He was always a fabulous player. He didn't want to take part in getting the ball back and defend for the team, but now he's pressing collectively.
"Guardiola got Jesus in and played him for a bit in front of him and he's lit the fire under Aguero."
