Pep Guardiola rated Julian Alvarez very highly during his time at Man City. The Spanish tactician was instrumental in bringing him from River Plate. Despite his relatively young age, the Argentinian was given a versatile role at the Etihad, often tasked with playing in different positions.
Alvarez won the Premier League and the Champions League in his first season with Manchester City. At just 24 years of age, he has already completed football, winning the World Cup and Copa America with Argentina and having won the above-mentioned trophies with Manchester City. However, the talented forward is still not satisfied.
Due to the presence of Erling Haaland, Alvarez hardly got game time in his preferred number-nine role last season. He was benched for the big games like the latter stages of the Champions League and the crucial title-deciding clashes in the Premier League, prompting him to consider his future.
Atletico Madrid have taken advantage of the situation and are closing in on signing the 24-year-old for a whopping €95m. Despite losing a talented player from the squad, Man City will make a massive profit from his sale and will have no reason to complain. However, they might be in the market for a replacement.
The domino effect?
Alvarez’s impending exit could tempt Guardiola to sign a new attacker and he dreams of a particular signing. The Man City manager wants to sign Real Madrid’s Brazilian forward Rodrygo and bring him to England.
Rodrygo has been an important part of Los Blancos in the past couple of seasons but things could change now. With Kylian Mbappe’s arrival, the dynamics are bound to shift in Carlo Ancelotti’s team. If he chooses to continue with the 4-4-2 diamond formation that he deployed so successfully last season, it could virtually mean curtains for the 23-year-old’s starting berth.
This could prompt the Brazilian forward to contemplate his future at the Spanish capital. The opportunity to work under Pep Guardiola who has a reputation of moulding world-class players could prove to be irresistible for the player. The ex-Barcelona manager could make Rodrygo take that next step in his career.
The difficult part for Man City would be to convince Real Madrid to sell him this summer. Florentino Perez can make life difficult and this might be a difficult negotiation for the English club to pull off. Only time will tell us if we can Rodrygo in a light blue shirt for next season.
