Julian Alvarez had an uncertain future at Manchester City after the arrival of Erling Haaland, but Pep Guardiola wanted to keep the 22-year-old in the first-team and his treatment of Alvarez in pre-season suggests he’ll have an important role.
Where will Manchester City finish in the Premier League this season?
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
5th or lower
Alvarez made the switch to City off the back of scoring 53 goals with 31 assists from 120 games for River Plate (2016 – 2022), so he was a prolific forward in Argentina.
Haaland is likely to start ahead of the 22-year-old this coming campaign, but Guardiola has made sure Alvarez receives as many minutes as possible in pre-season.
The Argentine international started in City’s 2-1 win over Club America on July 20 and had 49 minutes from the bench in their 1-0 win over Bayern Munich on July 23, so he’s had a good amount of playing time.
City selling Gabriel Jesus and Raheem Sterling left a void to be filled, but Haaland and Alvarez are great options in their stead – the latter contributed 23 goals from 24 games in his final season at River.
City have pulled off a great piece of business getting Alvarez for £15m, as he’s clearly impressed enough to warrant pre-season opportunities by Pep.
In other news, Kalvin Phillips has suffered a rude awakening for Manchester City in pre-season
So your listening Crippy…Interesting article without the negativity..keep up the good work
Alvarez will be gradually brought into the team throughout the season playing on the wing and through the centre. Think more like Torres.