Sergio Agüero tearfully announces retirement due to heart condition | OneFootball

Sergio Agüero has officially announced his retirement from football at the age of 33.

Agüero only joined Barcelona from Manchester City in the summer but after suffering breathing difficulties during a game against Alavés at the end of October, he was diagnosed with an irregular heartbeat.

And in a press conference on Wednesday, the tearful Argentine striker announced that after taking medical advice, he has made the difficult decision to bring his playing career to an end.

“This press conference is to communicate that I have decided to stop playing football,” he said in an emotional statement.

“It’s a very difficult moment. My health is the main reason I have made this decision because of the problem I had a month and a half ago.

“The medical staff have told me that the best thing would be to stop playing. 10 days ago I made that decision.

“I did everything possible to have some hope but there wasn’t much I could do.”

Agüero went on to thank his former team-mates and the fans and staff at all the clubs he has represented during his career, which began when he made his debut for boyhood club Independiente at the age of 15.

He went on to play for Atlético Madrid before joining Manchester City in 2011, scoring a dramatic Premier League title-winning goal at the end of his first season and becoming the club’s all-time leading goalscorer in 2017.

His short-lived Barcelona career lasted just five matches but the club’s president Joan Laporta spoke warmly about the striker at his Camp Nou farewell, which was attended by Barça’s first-team squad and some of his former colleagues, including Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola.