The "first step of Manchester City's title challenge" was how the public announcer described the club's Premier League opener against Swansea City to an expectant Etihad Stadium on Monday night. Two hours later, the judgement was clear: Roberto Mancini's side will be title contenders this season and in Sergio Aguero they have signed a new hero, a man who could make Carlos Tevez seem a distant memory.
The £38 million (€43m) summer signing from Atletico Madrid could surely not have even dreamed of a more successful debut than his 31-minute cameo as a second-half substitute in which he scored two goals and made another as City completed a dominant 4-0 win over the Premier League new boys.
It was a simply sensational individual performance, one that had the City faithful drooling as Mancini hailed a “perfect night” before comparing Aguero to legendary Brazilian striker Romario.
The Argentine striker's first goal, eight minutes after his introduction, was a predatory finish to turn the ball home from close range after he showed desire and anticipation to get on the end of Micah Richards' cross.
The coup de grace, the real statement to the other 19 clubs in the English top flight, came with the moment that he made it 4-0 in added time.
Picking up the ball just under 30 yards from the Swansea goal, he delivered a vicious swerving effort that slammed into the net. It was a strike of which his famous father-in-law, Diego Maradona, would have been proud.
In between, Aguero had found time to create City's third goal of the night for David Silva, lifting the ball over Michel Vorm and impudently finding the Spaniard in front of goal with a show of perseverance and awareness.
City's new No.16 offered a new attacking dimension for the hosts from the moment he stepped on the pitch to replace the injured Nigel de Jong. It wasn't just his goals and assist that made him stand out; it was his intelligent movement, the classy link-up play with Silva and his direct dribbling at the heart of a vulnerable Swansea defence.
Yes, it was 'only' Swansea, a team whose sole ambition for the new campaign is to avoid relegation. Yet Aguero was the man who turned the game on its head, turned a tight scoreline into an emphatic victory under the floodlights at the newly named Etihad Stadium. Oh, and he's also done it against the likes of Barcelona and Real Madrid during his time in Spain.
The 23-year-old also came into the game severely undercooked having not played a single minute in the club's pre-season after featuring for Argentina in the Copa America and then picked up a foot injury shortly after signing for City.
The scary thing is that Mancini, who could barely conceal his delight, warned after the game that there is more to come from a player who arrived in England probably without the reputation he deserved following four highly successful years at Atletico Madrid.
“I'm not surprised by what I saw because I know him well,” Mancini said. “He's a fantastic striker who scored a lot of goals in Spain and Argentina. I still don't think he's 100 per cent yet because he has been training with us for only 10 days.
“He can improve but it was still important for him to score on his debut. He needs to do more training and he is still recovering from playing in the Copa América but I am really happy because they were important goals.”
'Carlos who?' scoffed the City fans as they flooded out of the exits at full-time. Tevez, still in Manchester having failed to be granted a move so far this summer, was not present to watch his compatriot immediately win the hearts of the followers of his new club.
While Tevez has continually been a disruptive influence in his two years at City, Aguero is a far more down-to-earth and on-message character, a man who wants to be known for his professionalism as much as his stunning goals.
Aguero's ability has never been in question, but nobody could have predicted he would make such an immediate impact on English football. It remains to be seen how he will fare in the notoriously cold winter months but he showed here that he has the footballing brain to form instant relationships on the field of play.
The more he plays with Tevez, Mario Balotelli and Edin Dzeko, the more we will see from Aguero and vice-versa. The thought of Tevez and Aguero lining up in the same side at Bolton on Sunday will have City fans salivating; his link-up play with the wonderful Silva already looks like it could be extremely productive.
But whatever the future holds for Tevez, it is Aguero – signed as a replacement for his compatriot – who is the future for City. If he can perform to the standards he showed on Monday night, he could well be involved in a team challenging for the title on the final day of the season.
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