Manchester City striker Sergio Aguero feels the strongest he has in years following successful knee surgery at the end of last season.
The Argentina international had an operation on a troublesome issue in April and missed his side s final six Premier League matches of 2017-18.
The 30-year-old has started this term in encouraging form, though, scoring twice in the Community Shield win over Chelsea before netting a hat-trick in the 6-1 thrashing of Huddersfield Town.
Although he has failed to score in City s three other league games to date, Aguero is feeling the benefit of playing pain-free for the first time in years.
Honestly, I feel fantastic, he said, as quoted by City s official website. Dr Cugat did amazing work with my knee and now I don t feel any sort of discomfort.
During the past few years, I felt pains at times and when last season came to an end, we decided it would be best to start treatment. And the results were very positive.
I m not sure if this is the best start of a season for me, but it s the best I ve felt in years. It shows in my game. The challenge now is keeping up this level, and I ll be working non-stop to maintain it.
9 Sergio Aguero has now scored nine Premier League hat-tricks only Alan Shearer (11) has scored more in the competition s history. Phenomenal.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe)
City resume domestic action on Saturday, when they host last season s Championship play-off final winners Fulham.
Pep Guardiola s side were held to a 1-1 draw at Wolves last month and Aguero is keen not to underestimate another of the promoted teams.
They have a long-standing tradition in England of being a good footballing team and now they ve won a place back in the Premier League, he said.
It s no secret this is one of the most competitive tournaments in the world, played at the highest of levels, so it doesn t matter if they are fresh from promotion or not – they ve earned their place here.
