Sergio Ramos and Sergio Aguero: Football bargains and their uncertainties

 

Sergio Aguero was taken to the hospital from the pitch after suffering heart related conditions, leaving Barcelona short upfront for at least three months. (Photo credit: Sky Sports)

There’s something about black markets that doesn’t sit right, while the bargain on price might be heartwarming, durability and long term value might be compromised, let’s bring it down to football.

When PSG signed Sergio Ramos on a free, everyone waxed lyrical about how smart they were in the 2021 summer window, the crown of victory glittering with stars on their head, four world class free signings and three months after the window slammed shut, the review doesn’t look good.

You can argue that PSG’s problems can’t be heaped on the players alone with the manager offering unanswered questions, but with Lionel Messi in your team one would expect a level of fire, not relying on late wins every now and then to best teams you should be beating hands down.

Sergio Ramos is yet to feature for the capital club, that has been down to fitness with reports from multiple outlets suggesting a shock cancelation of his contract at PSG, unconfirmed but goes a long way in proving that things aren’t always the way they seem in football.

Champions League glory won’t head to Paris at this rate, Achraf Hakimi is probably the only one from the summer haul that is really firing; Gini Wijnaldum is often overlooked in the middle and Keylor Navas still locks horn with Gigi Donnarumma for the role between the sticks.

It’s not all rosy for Lionel Messi, he hasn’t even clicked and one can say he’s still adapting to life in Ligue 1, if and when they all click it will be a different case, but another topic altogether is the suitability of Mauricio Pochetino for the job at hand.

A quick dive to Spain, landing at the capital where Barcelona are also struggling to find value in the acquisition of Sergio Aguero, another black market product.

Sergio Aguero gave the entire world a scare when he was rushed to the hospital after collapsing on the pitch last weekend, it was like the flash of the Christian Eriksen incident but news broke out later that he’ll be fine, albeit with at least three months on the sidelines with heart conditions.

When Aguero joined for free from Manchester City, it was like Barca struck gold, events that followed soon turned that smile upside down with Messi leaving and the team struggling for points under Ronald Koeman who has since been fired.

It’s not all rosy for Barcelona and losing Aguero till February at least doesn’t offer any form of hope to a team that is far behind on the log.