SERGIO AGUERO scored in his return to action for Barcelona in behind closed doors friendly and could make official debut this weekend.
Aguero, 33, could make his Barcelona bow on Sunday at home to Valencia after proving his fitness by scoring in a training ground friendly against third-tier side UE Cornella.
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The Argentine striker moved to the Nou Camp on a free transfer this summer after ten years at Manchester City, where he won fifteen trophies, including five league titles.
Aguero arrived at the club expecting to feature alongside close friend and international teammate Lionel Messi, only for Messi to join PSG shortly afterwards.
The former Man City man then suffered a calf injury in pre-season just before the start of Barca’s LaLiga campaign, which has kept him out of action until now.
Aguero’s return will come as a huge boost to under-fire manager Ronald Koeman, with his side failing to find the net in four of their last six games in all competitions.
The Catalan giants currently sit ninth in LaLiga, five points adrift of rivals Real and Atletico Madrid, after a poor start to the season in both the league and Champions League.
Koeman will be desperate to turn things around and win back the faith of the fans, having survived the sack so far despite the team’s terrible run of form.
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He will have the perfect opportunity to repay the faith shown in him by club President Joan Laporta with the first ‘El Clasico’ of the season coming up on 24 October at the Nou Camp, a must win game for Barca.
The additions of Aguero and Ousmane Dembele will add significantly more firepower to Barca’s misfiring frontline, with Koeman relying heavily on new signing Memphis Depay for goals.
The Dutch striker has only found the net three times in his nine appearances so far this season and has struggled to lead the line alone for the 26 time LaLiga champions.
But with Aguero, Dembele and wonderkid Ansu Fati all returning to fitness, Barca fans will expect their team to start hitting some form.
Despite Messi’s departure, Koeman has a decent array attacking options to choose from, which also includes ex-Liverpool star Phillippe Coutinho.
If he is unable to turn things around with his squad at full fitness, he will struggle to maintain the support of Laporta and the Barca hierarchy, who will expect the club to be challenging for the LaLiga title.
Aguero is Man City’s all-time top goalscorer, as well as being the fourth highest Premier League goalscorer of all time, with 184 goals – the most goals of any non-English player in the history of the league.
But if he does make his debut against Valencia this weekend, he will hope to improve his poor record again them, winning only four of his 13 matches played.
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