It’s not often that professional footballers treat scoring a hat-trick as a bittersweet moment, yet Manchester City striker Sergio Aguero could have been forgiven for doing just that after grabbing his first international treble during Argentina’s recent 5-0 mauling of Bolivia.

As pleased as Aguero would have been at ticking off another personal achievement, it is surely not lost on him that his excellent display came in what was ultimately a meaningless warm-up game ahead of the 2015 Copa America.

Indeed, while Aguero was scoring goals for fun in a game of zero significance on Sunday, just a day earlier his compatriots Lionel Messi and Javier Mascherano were celebrating in the famous blaugrana of Barcelona having beaten Juventus in the UEFA Champions League final – one of the most prestigious games in world football.

The contrast in the stature of the two matches, and the fact that any praise for a superb international hat-trick has been completely – and rightly – overshadowed by discussion and analysis of club football’s biggest and most important game should serve as a warning to Aguero that time is running out if he is to join in with the likes of Messi and Mascherano and actually compete in these iconic, career-defining matches for himself, rather than continue to watch the spectacle from afar, his own club’s continental campaign having fizzled out to a disappointingly premature end yet again.

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After all, the Man City hitman is one of the finest, deadliest and most brilliant strikers of his generation. Ever since he broke into Argentine club Independiente’s first team at the age of 15, he has been scoring goals by the bucketload. Since joining City in 2011, he has gone on to become the player with the highest goals-per-minute ratio in the history of the Premier League, and his 32 goals in all appearances last season was his most prolific return in a single campaign for the Eastlands outfit, suggesting his best is yet to come.

However, it is time ‘Kun’ realised that his best should be saved for another club. He is a most magnificent talent, and such players should be given the opportunity to dazzle and delight on the biggest stage. This is something he simply will not be able to achieve at Manchester City.

For as long as Khaldoon Al Mubarak and the City Football Group retain a sufficient degree of interest, Manuel Pellegrini’s side will always remain a force to be reckoned with in the Premier League, but compared to Barcelona, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich, they are nothing more than a second-tier team, despite their enviable riches.

Time and again the Citizens have been found out in Europe’s continental competition, and this is not merely limited to the performances of the players on the pitch; Champions League nights at the Etihad Stadium are often strangely subdued and lacking in any kind of atmosphere, giving us the impression that while on the surface they have all the features of a super-rich modern football club, City in truth just aren’t big enough to make a mark at the highest level of the sport.

Sergio Aguero deserves better than this. At 27 years of age, he is unlikely to match Messi’s four Champions League triumphs, however so supreme are his talents that a move to the right club will surely see him lift the big-eared trophy at least once before he calls time on his career. Stick with City, and he may one day look back at his playing years with regret, rather than pride.

There are plenty of wonderful footballers over the years who, for one reason or another, have never managed to win the Champions League; Aguero must make sure that he does not become the most famous of them all.

What do you think? Follow me on Twitter @GruffuddOwen

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