Why is Sergio Aguero overlooked in English football?

With a hunger prompted by the procurement of the FA Cup in 2011 and the seemingly endless petrodollars from the Abu Dhabi United Group, Manchester City scoured the summer transfer market for a talisman to spearhead a pursuit for the Premier League title.

Former sporting director Mike Rigg and Italian scout Barry Hunter were in close conversation with Udinese when scouting and exploring a move for its explosive talent Alexis Sanchez, but City's delegates were aware of the Chilean's agent discussing a transfer to Pep Guardiola's Barcelona.

The Blues were simultaneously eyeing Sergio Aguero at Atletico Madrid.

"Would we have signed both of them? Probably," Rigg told the BBC World Football podcast. "If we'd had the opportunity."

The opportunity wasn't there but, in the 2016-17 season, Aguero and Sanchez were leading lights in English football. Sanchez, despite his shirt-tugging frustration, was lauded by the media as he scored 30 goals across all competitions for Arsenal. Aguero, meanwhile, enjoyed his most prolific season in England with 33 conversions, but was widely touted as a player who would soon be dumped by his club.

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Perhaps it was the contrasts on offer in north London that helped attract the most praise for Sanchez. England's adulation for No. 8-style midfielders resulted in Mesut Ozil's rare forays into defensive work being deemed a lack of effort, and the wanting bite in the middle of the park was pandemic while Granit Xhaka and Francis Coquelin fruitlessly flung their limbs in the vague direction of opponents. In this environment of supposed apathy or tactical bewilderment, Sanchez's industrious and ruthlessness meant he was undeniably the crown jewel for the Gunners.

City, meanwhile, has continued to add attacking players that threatened to deflect attention from Aguero. Nolito and Leroy Sane were signed last summer, but the apparent heir to Aguero's pedestal at City arrived in January: Gabriel Jesus. At least that's the script still being strictly adhered to by the majority of British publications.

That a Brazilian youngster could so easily usurp an established, free-scoring first-teamer reveals a slight distrust of Aguero's phenomenal ability from the country's press. He continually lists low in the all-time best Premier League player rundowns:

Perhaps it's because he doesn't possess the party tricks and sparkle of some of those higher up the list. Southampton great Matt Le Tissier often features highly in the rankings, and is unquestionably a less gifted all-rounder than Aguero, but the audacity of his goals are far more spectacular than the well-placed finishes of City's marksman.

Then there's Aguero's movement. Another all-time favourite, Thierry Henry, would stroke the top of the ball with his studs in a cocksure manner before surging towards an enemy's net. Aguero, with his no-frills economy of movement, kicks and runs to force an angle that's often too tight for others to convert, and frequently pockets a goal.

Rather than trademark individual endowments, Aguero is a purveyor of moments that should be acknowledged for generations. When he announced himself to English football with two goals and an assist in little over 30 minutes against Swansea City; the greatest clip in Premier League history when he scored the late, 2011-12 title-clinching winner to deny Manchester United the top prize; his goal past Liverpool's Pepe Reina from an acute angle in 2013; his five-goal haul that downed Newcastle United in 2015.

He'll also establish his place in the record books by the time he's finished at City. He overtook Dwight Yorke in goals scored by a non-European player in the Premier League in Saturday's 5-0 ravaging of 10-man Liverpool, and got to that count at lightning speed. Aguero is also just six strikes short of his club's all-time scoring high (177) held by Eric Brook since his 13-year spell ended in 1940.

(Courtesy: @SkySportsStatto)

Whether Aguero gets his overdue credit when he does depart England remains to be seen, but in the meantime he'll continue to quash narratives and focus his efforts on Manchester City, rather than top-10 lists.

In a moment that will be largely forgotten in the 5-0 bashing of Liverpool, Aguero honed in on goal for what would be his second and City's third in the contest. Except he didn't round Simon Mignolet again, instead rolling the ball across to his apparent adversary alongside him in Guardiola's attack - Jesus.

Related - Manchester City crushes 10-man Liverpool in historic thrashing

And if Sanchez joins Guardiola's entourage in January or next summer, expect him to be the recipient of an unselfish pass from the criminally overlooked Aguero. The Argentinian won't necessarily take centre stage on a weekly basis, but he'll continue to supplement one of the greatest curriculum vitaes not just since the 1992 birth of the Premier League, but since the English Football League was formed in 1888.