Chelsea close to British record £40m move for Sergio Aguero
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Chelsea close to huge £40m move for Argentina's Aguero
Big target: Atletico Madrid striker Sergio Aguero
Chelsea are closing in on a British record £40million deal to sign Atletico Madrid striker Sergio Aguero.
In the last few days, Chelsea have met representatives of IMG, Aguero’s agents, to
discuss a deal that would eclipse the £32.5m Manchester City paid for Robinho in August 2008.Senior Chelsea club officials were involved in the discussions and sufficient progress has been made in the last two weeks for all parties to be confident that the deal will be wrapped up soon.
Chelsea have lined up alternatives in case they cannot persuade Atletico to sell. Representatives of Edin Dzeko, Wolfsburg’s Bosnian international striker,
flew into London for talks nine days ago.But it is believed Chelsea officials also met counterparts from Atletico on the same day and are determined to make Aguero their big January signing before they learn whether the transfer ban imposed by FIFA over the Gael Kakuta affair is to be upheld by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
Personal terms on a four-and-a-half- year contract are all but agreed, and the only major stumbling block which remains is Atletico’s desire to receive a fee which would make the loss of their most popular player more palatable to their fans.
Aguero, who replaced Fernando Torres as the darling of the Vicente Calderon Stadium, could be loaned back to the Spanish club for the remainder of the season. Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti has made no secret of his admiration for Aguero, not least after the 21-year-old forward scored twice in the Champions League match between the teams in Madrid.
With Didier Drogba and Nicolas Anelka both in their thirties, and the possibility that Chelsea will not be able to sign anyone until the summer of 2011 if their two-window transfer ban is upheld, Aguero is seen as the ideal investment.
Aguero’s buy-out clause is about £55m, but Atletico realise nobody will pay that sum in the current financial climate. Chelsea will not be held to ransom, but they are prepared to break the British transfer record.
The Argentina international, a likely star of next summer’s World Cup, is engaged to national coach Diego Maradona’s daughter, Giannina, with whom he has a son.