Sergio Aguero can lay claim to being the greatest striker in Premier League history, according to former Manchester City team-mate Richard Dunne.
The Argentina international confirmed on Monday that he would leave City when his contract expires at the end of this season, bringing an end to his 10-year spell with the club.
Aguero joined from Atletico Madrid in 2011 and has established himself as a City legend, his 257 goals representing a club record.
He has won four Premier League titles, one FA Cup and five EFL Cups at City, with a fifth top-flight title on the horizon this term and silverware still up for grabs domestically and in the Champions League.
With Aguero’s stunning goal haul having come in 384 games, Dunne put the 32-year-old top of his all-time list of Premier League forwards for his remarkable consistency.
“I don’t think you’d ever put him behind anybody,” the former City defender told Stats Perform News.
“I think the way that he plays, all them strikers we speak about historically have scored a lot of goals, all different types of players.
“I certainly wouldn’t put Aguero behind any of them, I think he’s a player who could have played in any team, in any era or generation.
“It all comes down to who’s your favourite, who’s your preferred sort of striker. There’s plenty who will say Aguero is the best – his goalscoring ratio is fantastic.
“He’s been a bit unfortunate, because he tended to miss little periods of every season, but always managed to get over the 20 goals.
“He was someone that you could just rely on massively. Someone who when you’d go into a big game, and you need the goals, he’s a name that you would go, he’s starting because he’s just incredible.”
Chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak revealed a statue of Aguero has already been commissioned to stand alongside those of his former team-mates, David Silva and Vincent Kompany, outside the Etihad Stadium.
Dunne said that would be a fitting tribute for a player whose impending departure from City is likely to have put a host of big clubs on high alert, with the Irishman tipping him to join compatriot Lionel Messi at Barcelona.
“I’d imagine there’d be loads of interested parties,” said Dunne. “Teams at the top end of European football, will still believe that they can get another couple of seasons out of Aguero.
“I wouldn’t be surprised to see him go to Barcelona. He obviously seems to be close friends with Messi as well. It would be a nice fit for the pair of them.”
Aguero’s glittering legacy has at its centre the last-gasp goal he scored against Queens Park Rangers to secure a 3-2 win and with it City’s first Premier League title in 2012.