Sergio Aguero has confirmed he will play his first football match in 15 months after "successful medical checks".
Aguero was forced off 42 minutes into his first home start for Barcelona against Alaves last season and was taken to hospital due to breathing difficulties. The former Manchester City star was visibly struggling towards the end of the first half, laying down after clashing with an opponent in the penalty area.
Aguero returned to his feet and was assisted off the pitch but was unable to return to training due to ongoing medical treatment and monitoring, before being diagnosed with a heart condition that ultimately led to him calling time on his career. It was the arrhythmia uncovered by the medical tests that forced Aguero to terminate his professional career, aged 33, and with just 165 minutes at Barca.
One year and three months on from that match, Aguero is now set to return to the pitch for Ecuadorian club Barcelona Sporting Club. The club was founded by Eutimio Perez, a Spanish immigrant who named the club after his home city of Barcelona, with the Ecuadorian club having their name and badge inspired by the Blaugrana.
"I look forward to being there and having fun," Aguero – who will play in the Noche Amarilla friendly match for the team this month – explained. "I have had check-ups from the cardiologist, I am very well and I have already started training, so I will be able to play in the Noche Amarilla.
"I hope to have fun and feel the pitch again. I feel very good, I have a monitor to be in control, so I will be able to play because in 15 days I will also play a game with my friends from Barcelona in Spain."
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Aguero added that spending time with fans of the South American nation during the World Cup helped convince him to play as a guest appearance for the club, who have never been relegated from the nation's top division.
The striker added: "I went out to eat in Qatar and was watching Ecuador's first game in the World Cup, some Barcelona fans recognized me and they asked me to come to the Noche Amarilla. I had to keep quiet so as not to damage this surprise!"
He continued, addressing his lengthy celebrations after Argentina won the World Cup: "I exceeded myself in the World Cup final in Qatar, with the celebrations on the pitch with those who were my teammates, but I hope to be very well to play again after a year away from the game and the fans."
The Argentine will be the eighth world star invited to the Noche Amarilla. Ronaldinho was the guest in 2016, Diego Forlan in 2017, Kaka in 2018, Andrea Pirlo in 2019, Alessandro Del Piero in 2020, Javier Mascherano in 2021 and Carlos Tevez in 2022.
Aguero scored a club-record 260 goals for Manchester City – whom he joined from Atletico Madrid in 2011 - winning 12 major trophies over the course of a decade at the club before joining Barcelona in 2021. He also scored 41 goals in 101 caps for the Argentina national team.
