Sergio Aguero has Lionel Messi's blessing to wear the No. 10 jersey during his absence
Manchester City striker Sergio Aguero has received Lionel Messi’s blessing to wear the No. 10 jersey in his absence, according to Manchester City’s official site. The Barcelona star will be out for a few weeks after incurring an injury to his leg.
Due to Messi’s unavailability the striker will miss Argentina's upcoming World Cup qualifiers, and because of that his famous No. 10 jersey will be vacant. Aguero who is a very close friend of Messi will wear the shirt in his absence, as it is obligatory for one of the best players in the squad to showcase the number.
This is not the first time Aguero is wearing the jersey as he had worn it once in a friendly in the United States where his country were to play Bosnia.
In the Manchester City website, Aguero said: “I spoke to the kit man and he told me it is obligatory - someone has to use it because the numbers go from 1 to 23.
“I wore it for the first time against Bosnia, in a friendly in the United States, and Leo said: 'When I am not around, Kun has to use it.' Then he started to send me messages: 'Are you going to wear it? You're not going to chicken out, are you?
“Now every time he is absent it is up to me to wear it. I am happy to pull on the shirt, but it obviously belongs to him,” said the City forward.
Messi is irreplaceable
Aguero spoke about what it meant to play without Messi, "It is a bit strange because Leo has always been here with us, but these things happen in football, we have great players here and we can do well without him," Aguero explained.
"Obviously it is different without him but we can still make a good start.
"Messi is Messi, he is irreplaceable. But there is a great team here which can make his absence felt less sharply. Now the key is winning, picking up three points. We are playing at home, it is a long time since Argentina has seen us and we have to play well from the start to gain confidence."
Argentina will face Ecuador on Thursday and will play against Paraguay on the following Tuesday. Aguero who has been in sensational form recently is definitely a player who can live up to the No. 10’s role. His five goals in a game against Newcastle is evidence to that.
Kun Aguero is also one of the most consistent scorers in the Premier League with a goal per game ratio of 0.66. With this impressive piece of statistics, he ranks second in the list for the all-time highest goals per game ratio, the person above him being none other than Sky Sports pundit and Arsenal legend Thierry Henry.