Has Sergio Agüero established himself among the Premier League elite?

    Sergio Agüero broke the all-time Manchester City goalscoring record against Napoli

He has scored the third most goals in Premier League history, achieved several 20+ goal seasons and, this week, became Manchester City’s record goalscorer, but should the Argentine really be considered a Premier League great, and be held in the same esteem as the likes of Alan Shearer and Thierry Henry?

Firstly, Agüero has never been included in the PFA Team of the Season. He undoubtedly came close in the 2014-15 season where he won the golden boot, scoring five goals more than second placed Harry Kane.

    Agüero narrowly missed out on the 2014-15 PFA Team of the Year with Diego Costa and Harry Kane selected instead

Also, that’s the only season to date where Agüero has finished as the top scorer- not a record that would place a player at the same level as the likes of Shearer (3 time Golden Boot winner) and Henry (4 time winner). There is the argument that Agüero has suffered more injuries than both of these players, but Agüero has only failed to play fewer than 30 games in one of six seasons he has competed in, showing that he hasn’t been as injury-plagued as some would suggest.

Another point which could count against Agüero is his record in the big games, especially in Europe. Everyone remembers that goal against QPR which won City the title in 2012, but City were arguably fortunate to win that game and probably wouldn’t have won if Joey Barton didn’t get himself sent off. That has been, and will remain, the most memorable moment of his career. But, apart from this, has Agüero really asserted himself on the big stage?

    Agüero’s famous late strike against Queens Park Rangers won City the title in the dying seconds of the 2011-12        season

The Champions League semi-final against Real Madrid in 2016 is an example of a time where Agüero went missing when the stakes were highest. Throughout the tie, Agüero only managed two shots, neither of which were on target and, in the second leg, Agüero failed to register a touch in the Madrid penalty area. This was the first time City managed to advance to the knockout stages, with Agüero only managing one goal in these games- a five-yard strike in the round-of-16 first leg against Dynamo Kiev.

     Agüero was less than impressive in the semi-final against Real Madrid, unable to register a shot on target

There is no doubt the influence that Sergio Agüero has had on City’s success in the past decade and is a club legend, but a Premier League legend? That’s debatable.