Official: Agüero announces his retirement from football

FC Barcelona's Argentine striker Kun Agüero has formally announced that he will retire from football.

Agüero hangs up his shooting boots

The Manchester City legend held a press conference at Camp Nou on Wednesday surrounded by family, teammates and representatives from both Barça and the Premier League club where he enjoyed so much success, including Pep Guardiola and Txiki Beguiristain.

Speaking in front of the world’s media, Agüero came onto the arranged stage to some sentimental music and a backdrop of an image of him walking away with the words ‘Culer una vegada, culer per sempre’ (Once a culé, always a culé) emblazoned across it.

After the introductions, an emotional Agüero, handkerchief in hand, took a moment to find his words, aided by supportive applause from those gathered.

“I want to communicate that I am retiring from football,” he just managed to say. "It was a really difficult decision. My health comes first and the medics have told me it's the best thing to stop."

The prolific striker went on to add: "I want to tell everyone that I did everything possible.

"I always dreamt about playing football, since I was five years old. I want to share my gratitude to everyone, regardless of where I've played, Atlético Madrid, Manchester City, Barça."

Why is Agüero retiring?

On 30 October, Agüero had to leave the field during Barça's league meeting with Alavés after complaining of feeling dizzy. He was taken to hospital for tests. A couple of days later, on 1 November, the club issued the following statement.

"Barça player Kun Agüero has been subjected to a diagnostic and therapeutic process by Dr. Josep Brugada. He is unavailable for selection and, during the next three months, the effectiveness of treatment will be evaluated in order to determine his recovery process."

A month and a half later, the Argentinean called the press conference with the president to share details about what he planned to do next.

Agüero: a Man City legend

The diminutive Argentine arrived at Manchester City in the summer of 2011 from Atlético Madrid. The €40 million that City spent was one of the best investments in Premier League history. City have gone on to collect numerous trophies during that period, including five Premier League titles, with Agüero scoring 184 goals in 275 games.

The Argentine scored 260 goals in all competitions for Manchester City and is the fourth scorer in the Premier League history. Agüero overtook Eric Brook, the club record holder for 78 years, with 158 goals on the club's all-time goalscorer list during this season.

With two goals against Everton on the last league day of the Premier League, he surpassed Wayne Rooney (183), on another record list, for most league goals scored for a single club.