Argentina’s Aguero joins Man City

Juventus had also been chasing Aguero after impressive displays for Argentina and Atletico [EPA]

Argentina forward Sergio Aguero completed his move to big-spending Manchester City from Atletico Madrid on Thursday. 

Aguero could make his debut for City this weekend in the Dublin Super Cup tournament, which also involves Celtic and Inter Milan.

The Argentinian bolsters a strikeforce that already includes Mario Balotelli and Edin Dzeko, who were bought for a combined reported fee of $82 million in the last 12 months.

“Now I am a City player,” Aguero said on his Twitter feed on Wednesday. 

“Happy to be at this club and in this city,” added the 23-year-old.

“Thank you to everyone for the welcome and the reception.”

“Happy to be at this club and in this city” Aguero wrote on Twitter

One of the most sought-after forwards in world soccer, Aguero announced at the end of May he wanted to leave Atletico, who unlike City missed out on a place on next season’s Champions League, Europe’s elite club competition.

Spanish media reported the English Premier League side had agreed to pay $62 million to secure his services and he is expected to replace unsettled compatriot Carlos Tevez.

Juventus had also been chasing Aguero, who upstaged team mate Lionel Messi of Barcelona at the Copa America by scoring three times in four games.

He was one of the few bright spots for the hosts, who bowed out at the quarter-final stage after a penalty shootout defeat to eventual champions Uruguay.

Married to one of Diego Maradona’s daughters, Aguero has spent five seasons at Atletico, where he won the Europa League in 2009-10.

Aguero is City’s third acquisition this offseason, after center back Stefan Savic from Partizan Belgrade and left back Gael Clichy from Arsenal.

Anti-semitic abuse

Chelsea has lodged a formal complaint with the Malaysian FA about anti-semitic abuse allegedly suffered by Israeli midfielder Yossi Benayoun during a friendly in the Muslim-majority country last week.

The Premier League club said on their website that while most fans at the game against a Malaysian XI had behaved appropriately, others had not.

“We believe Yossi was subjected to anti-Semitic abuse by a number of supporters at the game,” the London club said.

Chelsea felt abuse Benayoun suffered during the friendly was worth a formal complaint [GALLO/GETTY]

“Such behaviour is offensive, totally unacceptable and has no place in football.”
 
Chelsea, distant runners-up to Manchester United in the Premier League last season, said they had not made representations at the time because of initial uncertainty about the nature of the abuse.

“Several players from both teams experienced similar treatment, sometimes louder and longer,” the club added.

“However, having taken time to consider the issue fully, it has become apparent that a formal complaint was necessary.”

Chelsea were in Malaysia on a pre-season tour. They are currently in Hong Kong.

Javier Hernandez will not be fit to play for Manchester United for a couple of weeks after being hospitalised for a concussion sustained during a training session on Tuesday.

The Mexican international was injured when he was hit by a ball on the top of his head and spent a night in hospital. He missed United’s 4-0 win over the MLS All-Star team on Wednesday.

After the game, manager Alex Ferguson said he had always planned for Hernandez to have an extended break after playing in the Gold Cup for Mexico.

United next travel to Washington DC for a Champions League final rematch against Barcelona. Ferguson’s team will begin the defence of their title August 14.

“He would never have been available for Barcelona, anyway,” Ferguson said.

“He’s just coming back from a break after playing the (Concacaf) Gold Cup for Mexico. He wasn’t going to be involved for two or three weeks, anyway.

“We took him to the hospital overnight, and all the scans were good. He spent today resting in his hotel room.”

Ferguson said Hernandez had been cleared to travel with the team.