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In little more than a month, the Manchester City fan who goes to the Etihad Stadium will be able to be photographed next to the statue of

.

His carving, the work of the Scottish sculptor Andy Scott, will be one of the meeting points before entering the stadium, as is already the case with those of

and

.

If at Old Trafford, at the other end of the city, the obligatory

is next to the United Trinity monument, that is,

,

and

, here they are.

Because the most glorious stage of the

it was his fault.

Especially Kun, executor of that redemptive Premier (2012), which ended a 44-year drought, with an eternal target at minute 93:20.

A digit that many local fans still have printed on their shirts.

The statue will be inaugurated on May 13, 10 years after that indelible goal against

.

It was a kind of restart in the history of City, champion in five of the last 10 leagues, three of them with

, who praised Atlético's style at a press conference on Monday.

An entity sailing in economic abundance courtesy of Sheikh

.

That he sighs, as happens to Atlético, for that Champions that turns his back on him.

Without suspecting that his heart would anticipate his goodbye, Agüero changed Manchester for Barcelona last summer, becoming a legend: City's top scorer in history (260), the most prolific foreigner in the Premier (184) and owner of the largest number of hats -tricks in the competition (12).

And that, in that convulsive 2011, Kun, who had renewed in January until 2014, but convinced that his future was at the Bernabéu (that's what his representatives told him), his eyes clouded when he saw that his destiny was another .

His words from Argentina, announcing his intention not to return to Madrid, were a door slam to the rojiblanco heart.

"He had a buyer, a super salary and a super project in front of him", remember those who lived through the process.

"Do not let me"

Let's turn our eyes towards the dawn of that summer of 2011. Tremulous weeks at the Calderón, with

's escape to Manchester and the confusion over the frustrated signing of

for the bench.

We are in the corridor of the bathrooms of the prestigious Japanese restaurant Kabuki, in the Hotel Wellington in Madrid.

, CEO of Atlético, completes, with his cell phone glued to his ear, the sale of Agüero to City.

He had found out days ago that his star had an agreement with Real Madrid and that irritated him to such an extent that he traveled from Los Angeles de San Rafael (Segovia), where the team began preseason, to Los Angeles (California), enclave of the set-up of the

, to end the problem.

There he met with a representative of the British club to put the striker in luck.

It facilitated the operation for less than what the white team would have paid.

They disbursed 40 million euros.

But back to Kabuki.

Miguel Ángel Gil returns to the table where he was having lunch and asks the diners who accompanied him: «How do you write 'don't let me down' in English?

And that «

»was the last message he sent to Sheikh Mansour.

He did it to remind him that the anti-Real Madrid clause, by which Agüero would not be able to sign for the white club for the first two years, would not appear in the contract, but that in exchange the sheikh had given him his word that, indeed, Kun would not go to Madrid.

Hence the «

».

Agüero neither went to say goodbye nor went to the Bernabéu.

And that his uncle Daniel continued to work for some time in the Cerro del Espino de Majadahonda.

Fate would end up being kind to all three parties involved in this rushed deal.

From that 2011 the best Atlético ever emerged with the advent of

in December.

With the signings of

and

, which would not have been possible, in part, without those 40 million received from the sale of Kun.

Nor without investment funds such as Doyen Sports, because the economic and sporting situation of the club was then tricky. Coincidence or not, the awakening of both teams, which this Tuesday meet for the first time in Europe, began, in part, with that operation that threatened to leave a painful scar next to the Manzanares.

It was not so.

The question for Giménez

"They are much more than rich and act as rich clubs do," they maintain about City from the offices of the rojiblanco club, where they emphasize that the British have a broader management team, for example, than that of PSG.

And, also, that there is something similar to a non-aggression pact with the French club, Bayern and other greats, for example, in terms of transfers.

Not so with the rest, which lives in another economic reality.

Atlético experienced it just three years ago (July 2019), when the English team presented itself with the 70 million

clause to take it to the Etihad Stadium.

He did it, yes, with prior notice, so as not to torpedo his opponent's sports planning for tonight.

The role of Guardiola, who had a great emotional impact on the midfielder, was decisive.

In the summer of 2013, it was

who took that same plane, after paying 4.5 million.

An ephemeral central that did not last even two months in Madrid.

Not so long ago,

, absent this Tuesday due to injury, also came to be in his sights.

At the start of last year, a question came (rather than an offer) about the defender.

They proposed a friendly transfer of about 80 million.

A figure that, despite the difficulties of the moment, was forgotten.

Just like the 40 that showed up for his compatriot

, in 2015.

City's eyes have crossed a few times with those of Atlético in the last decade.

Without a doubt, the most thriving period in the life of both teams.

And it all started with Aguero.

The guy who will have the statue of him at the Etihad.

The same whose plate of the Paseo de las Leyendas del Metropolitano usually looks tarnished.

“It was a shame that we did not face each other when Kun was there,” they maintain at Atlético.

With him began (almost) everything.

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