Sergio Aguero looks set to hang up his boots just six months after joining Barcelona.
The Argentine’s season has been blighted by injury and health issues and he suffered chest pains in his first competitive start for the Spanish club, against Alaves in October, and was substituted before half-time.
Aguero was immediately taken into hospital for cardiological tests, with Barca confirming the striker would be out for three months.
However, he is now likely to follow the advice from the doctors regarding his playing career following the results of his ‘cardiac exam.’
A press conference on Wednesday morning, which will be attended by the Barca players and president Joan Laporta, is expected to see him announce his retirement from playing football.
The 33-year-old has featured five times for the Catalan giants since joining the La Liga outfit on a free transfer in the summer having shown himself to be one of the best players to ever grace the Premier League in a trophy-laden spell at Manchester City.
He made his Barcelona debut in October and scored in the club’s 2-1 defeat to Real Madrid in the Clásico after recovering from a calf injury.
Aguero began his playing career at Independiente, in Argentina, between 2003 and 2006 before signing for Atletico Madrid.
He made his breakthrough at Atletico where he established himself as a ‘proven goalscorer’ and notched 102 goals in 234 appearances, guiding the club to Europa League success in 2010.
He later joined Man City in the summer of 2011 and had a prolific first campaign, scoring the injury-time winner against Queens Park Rangers to end the club’s 44-year wait for a league title.
He guided the club to five Premier League titles, six Leagues Cups and one FA Cup during his 10 years at the Etihad Stadium.
Aguero also went on to become the Citizens all-time leading goalscorer with 260 goals and the fourth-highest goalscorer in Premier League history.
His move to Spain was in part motivated by a desire to play with compatriot Lionel Messi but financial problems saw his friend leave for Paris Saint-Germain, though they still shared glory on the international stage.
Aguero’s final contribution for Argentina came at the recent Copa America when he came on as a substitute in the quarter-final victory over Ecuador as the team went on to win the trophy for the first time in 28 years.