Manchester City and Argentina striker Sergio Aguero was involved in a car accident on Thursday night in Amsterdam while riding in a taxi en route to the airport following a concert by Colombian singer Maluma. Aguero reportedly told an Argentine radio station that he fractured a rib after the taxi skid and crashed into a pole, news later confirmed by City manager Pep Guardiola.
Accident scene after crash in #Amsterdam of taxi which carried Sergio #Agüero | #ManchesterCity #manc #SergioAgüero pic.twitter.com/9KJDZW0voU
— Roeland Roovers (@r0eland) September 29, 2017
“The first impression is he has broken a rib but the number of days he will be out, I don’t know,” said Guardiola at his Friday news conference. City are on the eve of a showdown with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, but Thursday was a day off for Aguero.
“A day off is to be happy,” said Guardiola. “I am a trainer who doesn’t want to train every day because they [the players] need to rest, mentally and physically.”
Augero could miss anywhere from four to eight weeks because of the rib injury, meaning he’ll miss Saturday’s match with Chelsea and, most notably, the October 17 visit of Napoli in the Champions League.
Augero was not called up for Argentina’s crunch World Cup qualifiers against Peru and Ecuador on October 5 and 10 with Argentinian manager Jorge Sampaoli preferring the attacking talents of Lionel Messi, Paulo Dybala and Mauro Icardi while heavily stocking the midfield.
Augero has been City’s best attacker this season, scoring six goals and registering three assists in six Premier League appearances as the Citizens have raced to the top of the table with a goal difference of +19.
It’s more bad news for Guardiola and City following the confirmation of defender Benjamin Mendy’s ruptured ACL. The versatile left back will likely miss the rest of the season while joining “Injury FC”.
Bad news guys ll be joining Injury FC on loan for a couple monthes with ruptured ACL... but will be back soon & stronger hopefully
— Benjamin Mendy (@benmendy23) September 28, 2017