A cut-price club legend: Why Atletico Madrid gave Man City a discount on Sergio Aguero in 2011
To avoid a massive fan revolt, Gil Marin travelled to the United States to meet with Manchester City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak and former sporting director Brian Marwood.
During a meeting in a restaurant, they successfully negotiated the transfer. In the absence of official documents, the initial agreement was famously drafted on a piece of a tablecloth. Therefore, the reduced fee for Aguero was strictly driven by Atletico Madrid needing to avoid internal chaos. Gil Marin recently took a similar stance by refusing to sell Julian Alvarez to Barcelona to avoid strengthening a direct rival.
