Manchester City have seen Sergio Aguero become their club-record goalscorer, but former director of football Brian Marwood admits that the Blues were intially looking into signing Ezequiel Lavezzi.
Argentine firepower was the go-to option for those at the Etihad Stadium during the summer of 2011, with various targets being lined up.
A raid on Napoli was readied at one stage, but a transfer door then swung open at Atletico Madrid and the rest is history, with Aguero preapring to depart as a free agent this summer with five Premier League titles and 258 goals to his name.
What has been said?
Marwood has told The Sun of a conversation he had with club chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak that led to a historic deal being done: "We already had Carlos Tevez, Edin Dzeko and Mario Balotelli so we were after someone who would fit into that pool of forwards for Roberto Mancini. We’d been watching Sergio for a couple of years.
"He first came on to our radar when Mark Hughes was in charge but we didn’t think we could get him.
Next Match
"So we’d been looking at Lavezzi. He played with Edinson Cavani at Napoli and was a good player.
"But Khaldoon had good relations with Atletico and once we were aware we could get Sergio, we had to move quickly.
"We just thought, 'Wow, this is a no brainer'."
Marwood added: "Real Madrid and Juventus were pushing hard, so we had to get it done quickly.
"I have so much respect for people like Sergio because he could have gone to one of the biggest clubs in Europe.
"Yet he bought into the vision we sold to him.
"And it was done quite quickly in the end - probably only two or three weeks after we started talking."
Aguero's record at City
The Blues invested £35 million ($50m) in prising Aguero away from City, with eyebrows raised as to whether he was worth such a show of faith.
Any doubters were immediately won over, with the South American ending his debut campaign in Manchester by recording the most dramatic of title-winning strikes.
He has remained a model of consistency since then, with 182 efforts recorded in the Premier League, and will walk away as a club legend.
Alongside his five title triumphs, Aguero has helped City to six League Cup successes, a FA Cup win and could complete his medal collection when facing Chelsea in the 2021 Champions League final.
Lavezzi, meanwhile, ended up leaving Napoli for Paris Saint-Germain in 2012 and announced his retirement in 2019 after seeing out his playing days in Asia with Hebei China Fortune.
