Football

After 10 years at City, Aguero passed a medical on Monday to seal his free transfer to Camp Nou, with the Argentina international to officially become a Barca player on July 1.

The striker became City's record scorer during his decade-long stint at the Etihad Stadium, but now he is set to be united with compatriot Lionel Messi in Spain.

The pair are close friends, and Aguero's satisfaction was obvious as he sealed his return to LaLiga, having previously played for Atletico Madrid.

"We all know that Barca are the best club in the world, so I think I made a great decision to be here and I hope to help the team," Aguero said.

"Of course it's a step forward in my career. I'm really happy and hopefully I can help the team to win things."

"First of all, I want to play and help the squad and if the team does it well I will be happy individually. I just try to help the team and try to arrive at the end of the season with chances to win titles."

Hit by injuries and COVID-19 in a disrupted final season at City, Aguero bowed out with a substitute appearance in the Champions League final as Pep Guardiola's side lost 1-0 to Chelsea in Porto on Saturday.

Speaking in an interview released on Barcelona's Twitter account, Aguero indicated he had moved on and was now looking firmly to the future.

He said: "I want to send a big hug to everyone, to all supporters. I will try to give my best and hopefully the fans will enjoy my football skills.

"I've changed a little bit - at least my look when I arrived to Europe to Atletico Madrid at 18 years old. I learnt a lot, then I played for City in the Premier League.

"Now I've changed of course my way of playing, but I have an idea where I can play and I will try to help my team-mates with my experience."

Aguero, who joined Barcelona from City earlier this year, confirmed his decision to retire on Wednesday at an event featuring president Joan Laporta and the Blaugrana's first-team players, while representatives of the 33-year-old's other clubs – including Pep Guardiola – also attended.

The Argentina international suffered chest pain in a LaLiga match against Deportivo Alaves on October 30, which Barca confirmed was down to a heart arrhythmia.

Further tests resulted in Aguero being ruled out for three months to undergo a "diagnostic and therapeutic process". After consultations with specialists, he was told it would be too great a risk to continue playing.

Aguero scored 260 goals in his 10 years at City, with 184 of these coming in the Premier League, making him the highest-scoring overseas player in the competition's history.

Having scored league goals at a rate of one every 108 minutes, the best frequency of any player to net at least 20 in the competition, Aguero could play another 2,520 minutes of Premier League action (the equivalent of 28 full games) without scoring and he would still have the best minutes-per-goal ratio of any player to have scored 20 times or more.

Aguero scored seven league goals against Liverpool, with his last such strike a thumping opener in a crucial 2-1 win in January 2019. City edged out the Reds by a single point in that season's title race.

Asked about Aguero's impact on the Premier League, Klopp – whose side face struggling Newcastle United on Thursday – told a news conference: "Massive, massive.

"I really feel for the boy. He obviously made a move to Barcelona not to retire but for another exciting move in his career, he was not able to contribute because of his issues and I really feel for him.

"He had a great career, there will be a moment where he will see that as well and see that 33 is an age where other players retire but for other reasons, but of course for him at the moment he is of course in shock, that's what you get when you have to announce something like this.

"The impact he had on the Premier League, on football, I think was incredible. The whole time at City, even before Pep arrived there, the goals he scored, the importance of the goals he scored.

"Since I'm here, when we played against City, even if he was not too busy scoring against us, he was massive. He scored a very important one I remember. I don't know him as a person but as a player I can say he's one of the best I ever faced."

The Barcelona forward confirmed his decision to retire on Wednesday at an event featuring president Joan Laporta and the Blaugrana's first-team players, while representatives of Aguero's other clubs – including Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola – also attended.

Aguero, who starred for Atletico Madrid before becoming a City great, suffered chest pain in the draw with Deportivo Alaves on October 30, which the club confirmed was down to a heart arrhythmia.

Further tests resulted in the Argentina forward being ruled out for three months to undergo a "diagnostic and therapeutic process". After consultations with specialists, Aguero was told it would be too great a risk to continue playing.

Aguero was in tears as he confirmed his retirement at Camp Nou but is happy with what he achieved throughout an astounding career.

"I was in good hands with the medical staff who did their best, who told me the best thing would be to stop playing," Aguero said.

"So, ten days ago I made that decision, but I want to tell everyone I did everything to have some hope, but there wasn't very much.

"I'm very proud of the career I've had, I'm very happy. I always dreamt of playing football since I was five, my dream was to play in the Primera [Argentina] – I never thought I'd get to Europe, so I want to thank everyone.

"Atletico took a bet on me when I was just 18, people at City – you know how I feel about City, I did everything to the best I could there, I'm very grateful because they looked after me very well, and everyone here at Barca. The team has been great to me, without doubt one of the best clubs in the world.

"I'm grateful because they treated me really well, and of course the Argentina national team, what I love the most. I'm grateful to everyone who's come today, my family, people who've worked with me, and to my team-mates – most recently of Barca – I think I always did my best to help them win.

"I also give my thanks to my team-mates who helped me to grow, and I'll leave now with my head held high, happy. I don't know what awaits me next, but I know there's lots of people who love me and want the best for me. I'm grateful to everyone who's here, all the clubs I played at, and I'll always remember the amazing things."

Aguero helped City win five Premier League titles during his time with the club – his last-gasp goal against QPR in 2012 securing one of the most memorable titles successes in the competition's history.

He left City having scored 184 times in the Premier League at a rate of one every 108 minutes, the best frequency of any player to net at least 20 in the competition's history. In fact, Aguero could play another 2,520 minutes of Premier League action (the equivalent of 28 full games) without scoring, and he would still have the best minutes-per-goal ratio of any player to have scored 20 or more.

The City player closest to that ratio (min. 20 goals) is Edin Dzeko, who scored a goal every 141.6 minutes for City in the English top flight. 

Aguero is also the Premier League's highest-scoring overseas player and holds the record for the number of goals scored for one club.

His only goal for Barcelona came in a 2-1 defeat to Real Madrid in October. A calf injury prevented him from playing more before his heart issue, though he helped Argentina win the Copa America in Brazil during the off-season.

Asked if he had processed the change in his life, Aguero replied: "I feel okay right now, obviously the first two weeks were really difficult. When they did the first physical test on me in the clinic, the medical staff called to say there was a big possibility I wouldn't be able to keep playing.

"I started to process then but it wasn't easy. I'm still processing everything – one of the doctors told me straight up, that's enough. When it was definitive, it took another few days to process. Right now, I'm okay but it was difficult."

Aguero announced on Wednesday that he has had to walk away from football after a heart issue was detected in the wake of Barcelona's 1-1 draw with Deportivo Alaves on October 30.

The 33-year-old suffered chest discomfort and dizziness, which were later attributed to a heart arrhythmia.

Following consultation with specialists, Aguero accepted continuing his playing career would be too great a risk to his health, meaning his Barcelona career has ended before it ever really got going.

Of course, his initial move to Barca after leaving Manchester City was deemed to have been centred around the possibility of teaming up with Messi, though the seven-time Ballon d'Or winner ended up moving to Paris Saint-Germain soon after due to the Blaugrana's financial woes.

Nevertheless, the pair played alongside each other for Argentina both in youth football and in the senior side, culminating in both being present as the Albiceleste ended their 28-year wait for a trophy by winning the Copa America in July.

Following Aguero's emotional news conference, Messi penned a heartfelt tribute to his friend.

It read: "Practically a whole career together, Kun... We lived very beautiful moments and others that were not so [beautiful], all of them made us unite more and more and made us greater friends. And we are going to continue living [beautiful moments] together off the pitch.

"With the great joy of lifting the Copa America so recently, with all the achievements you achieved in England…the truth is that now it hurts a lot to see how you have to stop doing what you love the most because of what happened to you.

"Surely you will continue to be happy because you are a person who transmits happiness, and those of us who love you will be with you.

"Now a new stage of your life begins and I am convinced you are going to live it with a smile and with all the enthusiasm that you put into everything.

"All the best in this new stage!!! I love you a lot, my friend, I'm going to miss being with you on the pitch with the National Team a lot!"

Liverpool opened up an eight-point gap at the summit on Sunday with a 3-2 win over Southampton, a day on from City's humiliating 4-0 home loss to Tottenham.

It marks the second-biggest lead by a team at the top after 12 matches of a Premier League campaign, bettered only by Manchester United's nine-point advantage in 1993-94.

However, City have previously made up ground when trailing Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool to win the title – the latter by 10 points in 2018-19. 

And Aguero, a five-time Premier League title winner with City, has warned Liverpool that history could yet repeat itself this season.

"Pundits are always quick to call the race and my response is always the same: it ain't over until it's over," he told Stake.com. 

"The current point advantage may be insignificant by the end of the season. We've seen that happen frequently. 

"The 2011-12 season had us eight points below United and we took that trophy."

City are the first reigning English top-flight champions to lose five games in a row in all competitions since Chelsea in March 1956.

Three of those losses have come in the Premier League, which Opta's supercomputer now gives Pep Guardiola's side just a 15.4% chance of winning.

That compares to 76% for Liverpool, but those percentages could swing drastically should City pick up three points at Anfield when the sides face off next weekend. 

"Beating Liverpool will certainly help," Aguero said. "But it's not wise to make such sweeping statements when the tournament still has a long way to go."

Aguero's rallying cry came after City's fourth consecutive defeat in all competitions on Saturday, the first time Guardiola has gone this long without a victory in his career.

The Citizens have lost four straight games for the first time since August 2006, when Stuart Pearce was manager of the club and are 11 points behind Liverpool in the Premier League. 

But despite their recent run, the Argentine, who 260 times in 390 appearances for City, is confident that his former side can finish the season with more silverware.

"I think City are favourites to win everything, including the league, the [FA] Cup, the Club World Cup and the Champions League," he told Sky Sports News.

"Whatever City has to play for, they'll be the firm favourites. I think it all depends on the mentality they have because it's not easy to always be the favourites."

Last season, City became the first team in history to win four consecutive Premier League titles but, with their form taking a dip and Guardiola out of contract at the end of the season, there is the potential for instability at the Etihad.

But, according to Aguero, their manager is the key to their past and future success.

That frame of mind is understandable, given that Guardiola is the most successful Manchester City manager of all time, having won 18 major trophies – 50% of the major honours in the club's history – with a win percentage of 72%.

"I think City are where they are because Guardiola knows very well how to keep that mentality," Aguero said.

"For me, he's the key man for the club so that the players have the same winning mentality.

"Sometimes it gets difficult to win and it's normal, but Pep's team has been up there since he took charge, and that's something many people don't see.

"I think we have to acknowledge he's the reason his players have a winning mentality. He's strict and he makes the team be consistent every single game throughout the season.

"We should take our hats off because it's not easy to be there with the players every day, especially considering the players we're talking about.

"All the time, he's like, 'come on, we have to keep winning!' Living that every day can get exhausting sooner or later, but he's been doing this for days, months, even years, and I think that's why City are one of the favourites because Pep never rests and he never gives a rest to his players.

"That, for me, is the key to success for any team."

Both nations had failed to claim all three points in their tournament openers and were aware of the significance on this fixture towards their knockout stage hopes.

After a goalless first half in Yamoussoukro, Camera made the breakthrough with 21 minutes left when he slid home from Morgan Guilavogui’s cross and it proved enough to move Guinea up to four points ahead of their final group game with current leaders Senegal.

Gambia boss Tom Saintfiet shuffled his pack with five changes made from their opening loss to Senegal, but chances were few and far between early on.

Guinea almost took the lead in the 33rd minute, but Mohamed Bayo’s right-footed strike hit the post and it remained 0-0 at half-time.

Kaba Diawara’s Guinea continued to press for the opener and forced a number of corners before the deadlock was finally broken after 69 minutes.

Guilavogui was the architect for the goal after he collected Ibrahim Diakite’s pass and cut back for Camara to poke home after he beat Gambia defender James Gomez to the centre.

It sparked jubilant scenes from the Guinea team and it was almost 2-0 moments later, but Bayo struck the crossbar from close range.

Ex-Liverpool midfielder Naby Keita was introduced late on and he helped Guinea hold on for a potentially vital victory to claim a semblance of revenge after Gambia knocked them out of the 2021 edition in the last-16 stage.

The news of his death was announced by Super Lig club Konyaspor, for whom Calik had been playing this season.

Calik joined Konyaspor from Galatasaray in 2020 and wore the number six shirt for the top-flight team.

Newspaper Hurriyet reported Calik's car came off the road between Ankara and Nigde.

Turkish media broadcast footage of a car said to have been the one driven by Calik, lying in a crumpled state in a field.

Konyaspor said: "We are deeply saddened by the loss of our football player Ahmet Calık, who has won the love of our fans and our city since the first day he came to Konyaspor.

"Condolences to all of us, especially to the family of our football player Ahmet Calık."

The club said Calik's burial would take place later on Tuesday after funeral prayers at the Elmadag Sungur Mosque.

He had signed a three-year contract extension in November, after making a positive impact since arriving.

The Turkish Football Federation announced Calik "passed away as a result of a traffic accident".

"May Allah have mercy on the deceased; Our condolences to his family, relatives, Ittifak Holding Konyaspor Club and the Turkish football community," the federation said.

Galatasaray expressed their sorrow, saying it was news that caused "deep sadness".

Premier League clubs Chelsea and Burnley – as well as a host of MLS teams – are using an app, created by ai.io, that allows footballers around the world to complete specifically-designed drills and upload match footage of themselves.

Using computer vision and deep-learning machinery, which can recognise and evaluate a player’s movement, each user receives a score and then scouts are alerted to anyone that matches set criteria.

The aiSCOUT platform is the only digital scouting product invited into the FIFA Innovation Programme and already has several success stories, with Burnley signing Jez Davies and Chelsea handing a 10-week trial to Ben Greenwood, having discovered them on the app.

Not every budding footballer will be visited by a scout, but almost everyone will have access to a smartphone and that provides the player with a unique opportunity.

“It gives the power to the player,” ai.io COO and director of sports science Richard Felton-Thomas told the PA news agency. “You are always waiting for a scout to come and watch you, you can’t just ring them up and ask them to come.

“This just puts power into the players’ hands.

“We are really democratising that scouting process. Normally you go and watch and then go and collect more information afterwards, which is just inefficient.

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“You can’t replace the fundamentals a scout brings of going to a game, seeing how a player deals with adversity, how they transfer those raw skill sets to a match and taking instructions from a coach.

“Our tech is there to do the early talent detection but then scouts have to ID that talent with the traditional method.

“We give them the efficiency of enough information to say, ‘Don’t wait until the weekend to watch them’, because someone else might be doing that already.

“We don’t make the future decision of the player. The scout and the recruitment do that. I don’t think anyone wants AI to decide their fate. We are there to say on certain metrics, players are worth a look.”

Davies joined the Clarets when he was spotted on the aiSCOUT app shortly after being released by Tottenham and they quickly signed him up.

Greenwood had a 10-week trial at Chelsea before earning a permanent deal at Bournemouth, going on to feature in the Carabao Cup and represent Republic of Ireland at under-19 level.

There has also been huge success in India as players using a shared community phone have been scouted.

“We have had players trial and sign for Chelsea and Burnley and in India players who have downloaded our app from a shared community phone are now in football programmes,” Felton-Thomas added.

“If it wasn’t for a mobile phone they would never have the exposure. They were not playing registered football so a scout would never have found them but we are changing those lives through those opportunities with a phone.

“Jez Davies signed at Burnley. He was released at Tottenham. We didn’t know about him but he entered our app uploaded his reels and you can imagine being 18 and just coming out of Tottenham, his drills were incredible. Burnley saw that and within two weeks he was signed.

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“The first player we trialled was a player called Ben Greenwood. He had brilliant stats, he was at a football college and had never been scouted by any team, he lived two miles away from Chelsea’s training ground in Cobham and they thought if he was that good, how come our scouts had missed him.

“They brought him in for a day, just to validate our data, but he ended up staying for 10 weeks. He scored on his under-19s debut but he didn’t get a contract.

“He was signed by Bournemouth and is on his second contract and played in the Carabao Cup for them. This is a player who had never once been scouted, so that was a huge success story.”

AI and the use of machine-powered learning is becoming more prominent in the game and is the next step in using data which has served the likes of Brighton and Brentford so well in recent years.

With more high-quality data available and advanced metrics, AI will be able to recommend tactics, which players to play in which game, when to make substitutions and who to buy in the transfer window.

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And Aldo Comi, chief executive of leading global football analytics provider Soccerment, reckons we could see the implementation of some unusual tactics.

“Eventually, it will be able to do things like that. This is one of the most interesting aspects of the advent of AI in football,” he told the PA news agency.

“We saw in chess how AI invented some strange strategies which were difficult to accept by humans. They were counter-intuitive but ultimately they were right.

“At some point you will have managers listening to their assistants who listen to AI. The AI will come up with some strange solutions from a tactical point of view.

“Like for instance going 2-4-4 instead of 4-4-2. AI will provide very counter-intuitive solutions and strategies, but the outcome will be the same as in chess.

“I envisage a future where AI will support managers. It is difficult to see a future where there are no coaches. I hope that does not happen.

“To have a future where you have no coaches and just AI taking care of the tactical part would be too weird.”

While the use of data and AI is currently primarily used to analyse what has happened, Soccerment has designed an app called AIDA, which encompasses GPT4 and is a mobile AI data analyst, allowing players, coaches, fans and media uncover analysis and data analytics within minutes.

Comi added: “It was built to become your personal data analyst. Soon enough it will be able to get into more predictive stuff.

“That is the final aim, to give professional clubs to ask AI to suggest the structure of the team for the next game, how the players complement each other, which player should they choose in the next transfer market and why.

“It will be like having a human data analyst, but in this case you will just have it in your pocket.”

Another use of AI is the advent of wearable technology and Soccerment has developed a shin pad that will be able to track a player’s XG and other data in real time.

Comi added: “The shin pads track the technical part of the game, not only the athletic. We see how many passes, where on the pitch you make them, how many shots, the expected goals. It is the only wearable technology able to provide XG. That is the main advantage.

“The data comes through an AI model, which understands the technical events from a biomechanical point of view so it understands if you are doing a shot, cross or pass.

“From all of the data, the location on the pitch, the biomechanics, we are able to determine XG.”

:: To find out more about Soccerment and the launch of XSEED shinguards visit https://shop.soccerment.com/

Harry Milne converted Aidan Fitzpatrick’s cross after 27 minutes to open the scoring, but bottom-placed Queen’s Park quickly levelled through Ruari Paton’s close-range finish.

Fitzpatrick restored the home side’s lead straight after the break and Lewis Neilson’s header five minutes from time gave the home side some breathing space.

Parton scored his second from a delightful free-kick in the final minute, but third-placed Partick held on for a first win in three games.

In a 90 minutes featuring just two on-target shots, neither could lay a strong claim to deserving the three points.

The home side thought they had claims for a penalty when Lewis McGregor went down in the box late in the second half, but no decision came.

Morton head into Christmas in fifth, with their opponents two places lower in seventh.

Gabby McGill’s strike in time added-on meant an additional 30 minutes after Hamilton had overturned a 1-0 first-leg loss following goals from Connor Smith and substitute Jean-Pierre Tiehi.

Dylan McGowan headed off the bar for Hamilton in the first half of extra-time while Calum Gallagher later did likewise for Airdrie but the 2-1 score on the night and an aggregate of 2-2 meant penalties.

The first 11 spot-kicks were successful but Airdrie goalkeeper Josh Rae guessed correctly from Reilly’s effort, as the Diamonds secured promotion back to the second tier after a 10-year absence.

Callum Fordyce’s 72nd-minute header from a Charles Telfer corner broke the deadlock and Gabriel McGill struck nine minutes from time before Jay Bird’s free-kick cut the deficit.

The Championship’s bottom club made Airdrie work hard for victory, and Arbroath were left to rue Leighton McIntosh’s missed penalty just before half-time.

Airdrie’s Dean McMaster hit the bar early in the second half, and it looked like being a frustrating night for the Diamonds until Fordyce and McGill came up trumps.

Home midfielder Robbie Muirhead curled an effort against the post in the 27th minute.

But Airdrie went ahead five minutes later when Lewis McGregor drilled home at the near post.

The visitors thought they had sealed the win with 14 minutes remaining, only for Calum Gallagher’s effort to be ruled out for offside.

Nikolay Todorov opened the scoring against his former club in the 16th minute, heading in Adam Frizzell’s cross.

At the other end, Rhys McCabe cleared Miles Welch-Hayes’ header off the line and early in the second half, Dunfermline went close again when Paul Allan’s cross was deflected on to the post.

But Airdrie doubled their lead on the hour when Gabby McGill spun before hitting a shot into the top corner to seal the points.

The Spiders headed into the game with just one point from their last six cinch Championship games and fell behind shortly before half-time.

Liam McStravick’s pass sent Calum Gallagher racing clear and he coolly slotted the opener past visiting goalkeeper Calum Ferrie in the 39th minute.

Queen’s Park pulled level straight after the break when Josh Turner pounced on a poor clearance by Airdrie keeper Josh Rae to fire home.

Ferrie pulled off two superb saves to deny Airdrie late on, while the visitors finished with 10 men after Barry Hepburn was sent off in stoppage time following an off-the-ball incident.

Nikolay Todorov gave the hosts a fast start with his 11th goal of the season when he fired into the top left corner past Ryan Mullen inside a minute.

Airdrie doubled their advantage through Charlie Telfer’s composed finish in the 15th minute before Mason Hancock all but sealed the three points by heading home from a corner with 22 minutes remaining.

Michael Garrity grabbed a consolation for the visitors when he converted Jai Quitongo’s cross in the 73rd minute.

The home side consolidated the fourth and final play-off spot with victory, moving three points clear of Dunfermline – with a game in hand – after their 1-1 draw at home to third-placed Partick Thistle.

McGill struck three minutes before half-time in their semi-final second leg at the Falkirk Stadium, with the 1-0 win completing a 7-2 overall triumph.

Falkirk had a number of opportunities early on but a miracle turnaround always seemed unlikely and McGill tightened Airdrie’s grip on the tie when he pounced after a long throw.

Airdrie will now hope to clinch promotion at the third attempt after defeats in the previous two finals.

Smith, who joined Airdrie from Hamilton in 2021, struck early in the second half to help his side into a slender advantage before Saturday’s second leg at the ZLX Stadium.

Hamilton, relegated from the Scottish Premiership two seasons ago and bidding to avoid relegation to the third tier for the first time since 2004, were first to threaten through on-loan Hearts midfielder Connor Smith.

Connor Smith, playing against his brother Callum, fired an early angled shot inches wide, while Airdrie went close through Callum Fordyce’s half-volley, which was turned away by Hamilton goalkeeper Jamie Smith.

Accies threatened again through Connor Smith before the break when his shot from outside the box was well saved by Airdrie goalkeeper Joshua Rae.

Airdrie, buoyed after sealing a 7-2 aggregate play-off semi-final win over Falkirk on Saturday, edged ahead in the 56th minute when Callum Smith produced a neat near-post finish after a fine run into the penalty area.

Accies defender Daniel O’Reilly went closest to an equaliser when he headed a corner narrowly over in stoppage time, while Airdrie defender Craig Watson was sent off late on after his foul on Connor Smith earned him a second yellow card.