The year also saw the emergence of Kun Agüero as a scoring threat, finishing third in the Pichichi Trophy standings with 19 goals. The season was not without controversy, though, as two of the team's Portuguese stars (Costinha and Maniche) left the team to go to Italy (a sale to Atalanta and a loan deal with Inter Milan, respectively) after highly-publicised disagreements with manager Javier Aguirre.