Sergio Aguero transfer to Manchester City was driven by Atletico Madrid’s fear of fan backlash, report says

Manchester City’s 2009-2018 transfer dealings are being reviewed as part of the investigation into the club’s financial affairs, including Sergio Aguero’s move from Atletico Madrid.

Mundo Deportivo has reported that Atletico agreed to sell the Argentina forward to Manchester City for less than Real Madrid had offered because the Spanish club feared a major reaction from its supporters.

At the time, Aguero was one of Atletico’s leading players. Chief executive Miguel Angel Gil Marin was concerned that allowing him to join Real Madrid, one of the club’s biggest rivals, would trigger widespread anger among fans.

Gil Marin therefore travelled to the United States to meet Manchester City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak, who was there with the club’s sporting director at the time, Brian Marwood.

The initial negotiations took place in a restaurant, where the two sides established the first framework for Aguero’s transfer. As the necessary documents were not available during the meeting, the main details of the preliminary agreement were written on a tablecloth.

According to the report, Atletico’s decision to lower the selling price was not connected to any financial arrangement involving Manchester City. Instead, it reflected Gil Marin’s desire to avoid a supporters’ crisis at a club that was less stable at the time than it is now.

That made a move to Manchester City a more acceptable option than allowing Aguero to join Real Madrid. The report draws a parallel with Atletico’s handling of Julian Alvarez last summer, when the club rejected the possibility of selling the striker to Barcelona, another direct competitor.

Aguero eventually moved to Manchester City for 36m euros, plus a further 4m euros in incentives. Real Madrid had been prepared to pay the 45m-euro release clause in his contract.

The Argentina striker had agreed to join Real Madrid, but the intervention of Atletico chief executive Miguel Angel Gil Marin prevented the transfer from taking place.

The period under investigation covers nine seasons between 2009 and 2018. Manchester City has been accused of concealing the true state of its finances from auditors and regulators by inflating some sponsorship agreements and hiding certain expenses.

The Premier League previously announced that an independent commission had found Manchester City guilty of serious breaches of the competition’s financial rules across those nine seasons. The club was also found guilty of most of the allegations relating to a failure to co-operate with the investigation.

Manchester City have until Friday to appeal against the accusations. As a result, all of the club’s transfers during the period under review are being examined, including Aguero’s move from Atletico Madrid.